Sometimes Red Equals Green(Scorpius and Lily)
by armedassassin
Summary: Nothing seems to go right when Scorpius and Lily are in proximity. Either she's caught stuttering or he's trying his best not to look at her. They struggle to stay away from each other and as much as they do, sometimes a Gryffindor just can't stay away from a Slytherin. But when the dark comes hovering again, will they still be together or will an evil tear them apart?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Hogwarts _School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was in for a shock when Albus Severus Potter got sorted into Slytherin. But the students and teachers were not surprised when Albus got into occasional fights with Scorpius Malfoy. Then all of a sudden, in their third year, the school witnessed another shocking incident. A Potter and a Malfoy had become friends. The two had gone from playing pranks on each other to playing pranks together. And the number of times the two found themselves in Headmistress Mcgonagall's office drove the transfiguration professor insane. But as much as it distressed her, the Potter-Malfoy allegiance was something she began to admire._

 _She wasn't the only one who was indirectly in support of Scorpius's friendship with Albus. There was another, a girl of eleven, two years younger to her brother; she was Lily Luna Potter. The moment that she had met Scorpius before the Quidditch match between Ravenclaw and Slytherin, (she had been chatting with Albus when Scorpius had come to see him) he had managed to get her eyes locked onto him._

 _"_ _Have you met Lily?" Albus had asked and Lily flushed as she hid behind her brother._

 _Scorpius had only given her a smile._

 _"_ _Lily," said Albus, pulling her forward. "Meet Scorpius. He's our most extraordinary seeker after dad."_

 _"_ _Scorp, this is my sister Lily."_

 _"_ _Hello," Scorpius said, extending his hand for her to shake. Lily stared at his outstretched hand for a moment before glancing up at him and then running off amid the crowd._

 _Scorpius chuckled and bid a bewildered Albus goodbye before joining his team. At that moment, as she watched the match begin from the Gryffindor stands, neither Scorpius nor Lily had realized that five years later at another Quidditch match, she would be cheering for Slytherin from the Gryffindor stands._

"Albus! Where in Merlin's name have you hidden my Herbology essay?" Lily exclaimed, stomping up to her brother in the courtyard.

It was a pleasant evening, and Lily had been lounging at the lake with her close friend Alice Longbottom — chatting about how sweet and considerate Lorcan Scamander was — when she suddenly remembered that she had to finish her Herbology essay. Lily had looked for it everywhere in the dormitory and then realized that Albus must have stolen it. She had muttered something about Albus being a nuisance, and left to go find him, leaving Alice to her daydreams about Lorcan. Alice could never stop gushing about her boyfriend and that was nearly always the topic of conversation between her and Lily. As much as Lily enjoyed hearing about the extravagant things Lorcan did for Alice to show his love for her, she also got annoyed knowing that there was no one Lily could gush so fervently about.

She was fifteen-years-old, and had been asked by a few boys in school but she had turned down every single one of them. Alice often remarked that Lily should've said yes to Lysander (Lorcan's twin) because the letter that he had given to Lily was the sweetest one ever. Lily had come up with some lie to get Alice off her back; something about him being the brother of Alice's boyfriend and that it would be odd. But she could never admit to anybody (at times not even herself) that her heart was set on one blue-eyed boy from Slytherin (who also happened to be her brother Albus's best friend).

Lily had long admitted that Scorpius Malfoy was off limits. She had three reasons to believe the same. One: He had a different girl draped around him every other month. Two: He had barely even given her a glance whenever they were in the same room. And three: Albus would throw a fit if anything were to happen between them. Yet those reasons did not stop her from grabbing every chance she could to be around Scorpius. Also it helped because Albus kept taking her things and hiding them so she could always go up to him and rattle his bones for doing so, while giving her eyes a good treat because her brother and Scorpius were constantly found at the same spot.

She had been infuriated that Albus had hid her Herbology essay again (one that she had spent three hours in the library working on) but it also gave her another chance to look at Scorpius closely as opposed to shooting him glances from the Gryffindor table in the great hall. She found them in the courtyard where Scorpius was sitting with his legs outstretched before him, his hair in the most chaotic state possible and eyes focussed on the book that he was scribbling something furiously on...Lily was finding it hard to look away from him.

 _Why does he have to be so attractive?_ She scolded in her head.

"I didn't!" Albus said, giving her the most innocent look he could muster. "There is no essay of yours that I have seen."

Lily rolled her eyes. _As if he hasn't hidden it before._

"Stop being such a pain, Alb. Return my essay," she remarked, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

It was a pesky habit that she had picked up whenever she was anywhere close to Scorpius. She would nervously keep tucking her hair at the back of her ears even though no strands were hanging loose. Hard as she tried, Lily could not break the pattern. After a while she had just started to ignore it.

"I'm not lying, Lily."

"Are you talking about the Herbology essay that was supposed to be submitted yesterday?" Scorpius asked when Lily was about to tell Albus off for lying.

She was so shocked seeing he was speaking to her directly that she couldn't answer. Lily began to stutter and managed an incoherent response that she was quite sure none of them heard. Scorpius hadn't looked up from his book at all while speaking but the sentence directed to her was enough to give Lily a panic attack.

 _Calm down,_ she told herself. It wasn't as though he had never talked to her, but it was only when extremely necessary or if he had to pass a message from Albus since he was busy in detention. But every time Scorpius directly addressed her, Lily's nerves would fluster and she'd start to stutter. She hated that. She hated that he had such an effect on her when to him she meant nothing.

"I overheard Thomas talking about it in the common-room today. He was saying that he had written some nonsense in it and that Professor Longbottom would not be pleased," he said, scribbling something in his notebook.

Thomas was a classmate of Lily's. She thought back to when she had handed the essay in the Herbology lesson the day before. She mentally cursed herself for being so thick. _He must think I'm some deranged lunatic to be throwing a fit over nothing._

"Right," she muttered. "I'm sorry...I—I'll just—just go."

Without getting a chance to embarrass herself even more, Lily took off hastily. She was grateful that she had reached at quite a distance when she tripped on her feet and was about to fall face-first. Lily shuddered at the thought of what would happen if Scorpius had witnessed her clumsy self. She'd rather not think about how amusing that would be to him; and how he would never think of her as anything but Albus's awkward little sister.

Lily rushed towards the Gryffindor common-room and made a beeline towards the girl's dormitory. She threw herself on her four-poster and buried her face into the fluffy pillow.

"This is blasphemy!" She mumbled into the pillow irately before turning around so she was lying on her back, and stared up at the ceiling, muttering cuss words to herself.

"How could I be so daft? We handed in the essay yesterday! Yesterday, for Merlin's sake, Lily, use your head!" She groaned and sat up.

Lily had a habit of talking to herself when she was frustrated or angry over something. The girls in the dormitory were quite accustomed to this habit of hers for the past five years. Her muttering and mumbling was ignored by everyone, and nobody talked to her when she was this way. They would rather sit and stare at nothing instead of talk to Lily when she was in her angered state where she'd hex anybody who came close to her.

"He could've just sat quiet," she muttered. "Why did he have to open his mouth? He doesn't talk to me anyway. Could've just shut his oral cavity and not spoken a word. But no...he just _had_ to talk and make it worse for me."

"You are a fool, Scorpius Malfoy!" She said loudly, now gathering the attention of a group of girls huddled at a bed across from her. They looked at her as though she had lost her mind and when she sheepishly pulled the covers on top of her head, they turned away.

Lily wondered what the foolish Scorpius Malfoy must be doing now that she had left the vicinity and he did not have to see her humiliate herself anymore. _Probably snogging some girl from Ravenclaw this time._

But that wasn't what Scorpius was doing. Rather he was busy chuckling to himself, recalling how adorable Lily had looked when she'd started stammering out of nervousness. If she thought that he didn't know that she fancied him, then she was utterly wrong. Scorpius had known since the day that she had met him for the first time before Quidditch. Her face had given it all away, and day after day when he came across her in school, she made it quite obvious how much liked him. It was only a matter of time until she got so mad that she admitted it to his face.

Scorpius was eagerly waiting for that day. It wasn't that he had never noticed Albus's sister before. She'd captured his attention just as much as he'd captured hers. Scorpius wasn't sure whether or not he fancied her, but he surely found her alluring. He'd seen her transformation from a timid and awkward girl who flustered whenever he was around, to a beautiful and bright young woman who also flustered whenever he was around. As much as he wanted to get to know her more, he couldn't muster up the courage to do so because he was aware that it would not go down well with his best friend. Albus had warned Scorpius beforehand — when he'd noticed Lily's behaviour around the latter — that his sister was not to be one of Scorpius's conquests.

Scorpius had a reputation of going out with a different girl every month, and even though Albus was no different, he did not want his little sister to be hurt. Had Scorpius not been this handsome and appealing to nearly all the girls in school (including those who despised Slytherin boys), and if he had not been told that Lily was to be considered nothing but Albus's sister, maybe Scorpius wouldn't have become so frivolous with the girls.

And maybe he'd have gathered the courage to look at her straight without admiring her beautiful face, her luscious red hair and long legs that drove him mad. It was difficult, he'd admitted to himself, looking at Lily as nothing but Albus's sister and not a grown up and attractive young woman. It took all his willpower not to pull her into an empty corridor and kiss her.

He'd scolded himself plenty for having such thoughts but he couldn't help himself. But he would never agree to the fact that he might just harbour similar feelings for Lily as she did for him. It was a dangerous territory to step into, and Scorpius would rather go around with other girls than lose his best friend just because he couldn't keep his hands to himself when it came to Lily.

And he only wondered what the result of courting Lily would be if his father found out. Draco Malfoy was never so happy about Scorpius's friendship with Albus, but he had accepted it because no matter how bad the rivalry between Harry and Draco, they had, in the end, become cordial with each other. But just because his father allowed him to be best friends with Harry Potter's son, did not mean that going out with the daughter would be acceptable.

Scorpius had decided long ago that he would never make a move on Lily, but it had never been established that he would stop thinking about her entirely. After all, he couldn't stop those thoughts from returning whenever she was around. He tried his best to keep safe distance and not pay attention when she was in sight, but doing so was trickier than he'd imagined.

When Lily had come to the courtyard raging about how Albus had hidden her Herbology essay, it took all his effort not to fluster her even more by giving her one of his signature smirks that had girls swooning. He'd then resorted to glancing at her while she was fuming at Albus, and then clearing her doubts about the essay, without looking at her once. Scorpius knew that he wouldn't be able to look away from that tight-fitted white shirt, and light-blue jeans that covered her legs, if he gave her another glance.

He had stuck to looking at his notebook and vigorously scribbling notes on it as though his life depended on it, until Lily had walked off. That was when Scorpius had sighed and asked Albus that they should return to the dormitory because it was starting to get dark. Albus had agreed and now they were sitting in the common-room where Albus was chatting with a few other friends while Scorpius was busy staring at the fireplace, trying to get the reddened face of Lily Potter out of his head. It was quite the task.

As the night gathered its darkness and the lamps went out, Lily and Scorpius lay on their beds, each thinking about the other. The two of them didn't know what the coming month had planned for them, and how their lives were about to experience drastic changes. But all they could do for now was fall into a slumber; Lily deciding to move on from Scorpius like she did every night, and Scorpius scolding himself to stop thinking about a certain red-haired beauty, like he did every night.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: None of the characters belong to me, they are solely owned by J.K. Rowling. The story, however, is a product of my imagination and any resemblance to another fanfic is purely co-incidental.**

 ** _A/N: Thank you for the first review that I have received. I hope to receive more of those. The chapters are edited but if there are any mistakes, do feel free to point out. Thank You! Happy reading!_**

 **Chapter 2**

 _Scorpius Malfoy using products purchased from Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes was as preposterous as Peeves behaving himself. Scorpius and Albus often found themselves in headmistress Mcgonagall's office after they had either set off_ Bombtastic Bombs _in the Charms classroom or released the_ Decoy Detonators _in Potions. The teachers were all quite infuriated yet amused at how brilliant the products really were. But the only one extremely annoyed was Argus Filch. The two best friends would sometimes pair up with Peeves and create much more nuisance than Hogwarts had witnessed in years, and Filch would turn into quite the daunting caretaker._

 _Albus had nicked the Marauder's Map from his father's study and he and Scorpius would often use it generously for their benefit. They had been able to keep it safe from anyone finding out, but in their fourth year, Filch had discovered it when they were supposed to be wiping the trophies during detention. Harry had, once while talking to Albus about his adventures, recalled the time when he had to do the same thing in detention with Filch._

 _The students eagerly awaited the pranks that the Tattling Twins — as they were affectionately nicknamed — would perform. Rose Weasley (the daughter of Hermione and Ron) often remarked how those two resembled her Uncle Fred and Uncle George. Uncle George would happily send them more supplies from the shop so he could play his minor part in the pranks. Scorpius had become good friends with the Weasleys and it was quite astounding since he was the first Malfoy to have associated with whom they referred to as 'blood traitors' once._

 _All of their pranks did not go any less unnoticed by Lily who was usually found lurking in the library with her head immersed in books. She was distinctly similar to her Aunt Hermione, and Harry often told his best friend how his daughter resembled her. Aunt Hermione was proud of Lily and would help her with whatever she needed. She had even divulged the ways to access the restricted section if needed, as Hermione herself had had her own share of sneaking into that part of the library._

 _Although Lily was nearly always in the library, she had knowledge of all the pranks that were pulled by the Tattling Twins, and her attention was caught by Scorpius every time. Plenty of times, she had seen him run into the library to hide when Filch was on his tail. Once or twice, he had even requested her to keep it quiet when Filch asked around about him. She was happy to help. After all, how else would she get him to notice her?_

He had barely noticed that she was talking to Albus and Rose about what they were going to do for the Christmas holidays that were close by. Lily, Albus and Rose were huddled at the corner of the Quidditch ground. Scorpius was also there, sitting a little away from them and busy examining his broom that had been damaged during practice.

"I was thinking that we could invite Scorp this time," Albus was saying and Lily's ears perked up at the sound of that.

"His father called mum a mudblood," Rose hissed, glancing at him once. "I don't want him anywhere around."

Rose and Scorpius did not share a wonderful bond, as was obvious. She despised the Malfoys just as much Draco Malfoy had once despised Hermione Granger. Rose had once confessed to Lily that she found him attractive but that was about it. She did not like his condescending self tolerable, she often said. Lily experienced utmost relief when she had found out that Rose purely disliked Scorpius and wanted nothing to do with him, because had Rose felt about him what Lily did, it would have been disastrous. Lily shuddered at the thought itself.

"His father hated dad too, Rose," remarked Albus. "That doesn't mean he will be the same. Grow up."

Rose was about to protest when Lily decided to intervene before it got any worse. She didn't want a Gryffindor-Slytherin showdown.

"I think Rose is right," said Lily. "I don't know if it's—"

"You've fancied him for a long time!" Albus cut her off with a whisper. "I'm sure you can stand in the same room with him. Besides, nothing can happen between you two anyway. I've made sure of that. So don't worry. I'm going to invite him home for this Christmas. Malfoy Manor is being rebuilt and he was planning to stay at school. I've even written to Dad about it. He didn't have a problem and Mum seemed to love the idea of having guests over."

Lily did not have anything else to say to him when he'd lashed out this way. All she could do was stomp out of the ground, fuming. She always seemed to overreact when it came to Scorpius. Who was Albus to remind her that she fancied Scorpius? Granted that she had made it obvious when they were young, but that didn't mean that Albus could tell her anything he wished.

Lily had involuntarily reached the library where she usually found peace. It instantly calmed her down. She took a deep breath, told herself to take it easy and that she could surely handle Scorpius Malfoy being in the same house with her for the duration of the holidays (even though she was certain that it would be extremely difficult to keep herself steady around him). _I can always do some reading and spend time with Rose and Victoire,_ she told herself.

Victoire Weasely was another of Lily's cousins who visited the Potters every Christmas along with the rest of the family. It was tradition that the Potters and the Weasleys celebrated Christmas together, and they met at either of the two houses every year. This year it was at the Potters. Lily was mortified at the fact that Scorpius would be at her home. She was now sitting at the most isolated corner of the library so nobody would see her going wild over the thoughts of what would happen during the holidays.

 _What if he sees me in my pyjamas? What if I'm looking like a lunatic when I wake up and the first person I see is him? What if he accidentally walks into my room and finds me drooling? Oh Merlin, what if he ends up sitting next to me at the dining table?_

"Lily." Rose broke her out of her reverie and Lily snapped her head up from _Advanced Potions_ that she was pretending to read. She then noticed that it wasn't even in the syllabus until next year. Disdainfully, she shut the book and put it away.

"What is it, Rose?" She asked, getting up from her spot.

"I'm sorry about what Alb said," Rose commented remorsefully.

"It's not your fault." Lily rolled her eyes as she looked for a significant book to read.

"Yes, but he was rude," said Rose, following her. "Are you going to be okay with Malfoy spending Christmas with us?"

"Honestly, I don't know," Lily sighed. "But I'll be fine."

"You really do fancy him, don't you?"

Lily made no attempt to hide the obvious. What was the point?

"Does it matter?" She turned to face her cousin, dejected at not having found an interesting book. "Let's go," she said and the two left the library.

Lily absentmindedly walked towards the Astronomy Tower where she knew Alice would be, probably with Lorcan and she'd find them in some compromising position, but frankly she didn't care. She just wanted to see her best friend so she could rant about how infuriating her brother was. Rose decided to let Lily go wherever it was that she was going, and left to return to the Ravenclaw common room. (Rose had been sorted into Ravenclaw, despite the fact that her parents had belonged to Gryffindor. Hermione was proud of her daughter, whichever house she would've been in.)

As Lily was walking towards the Astronomy Tower, without looking as to where she was headed, she bumped into someone and stumbled backwards. She looked up to see that it was Lysander (Lorcan's twin).

"Hey," he said to her, flashing her one of his trademark charming smiles.

"Hi," she responded with a forced one of her own.

"Where are you headed?" He asked, falling into step beside her.

"The Astronomy Tower," she answered distractedly.

Lysander had been pursuing Lily for a while now but he gave up when she had discreetly let him know that she wasn't interested. He did continue to be civil towards her, which Lily admired greatly since most of the boys that she had turned down seemed to hold a grudge against her.

"I'm going there too," said Lysander. "Possibly to find my dearest twin in a compromising position." He chuckled.

Despite herself, Lily smiled because she had had the same thought. And just like that she had forgotten what she was so angry about. Lysander had this unusual skill to make someone smile when they were at their worst. He didn't even need to know whether or not they were down. All he had to do was say something casually and he'd snap someone out of their remorseful condition. It was miraculous, as Lily liked to point out.

She liked Lysander, but he did not have even the slightest of the effect that Scorpius had on her without even trying. _The only effect I have on him is of making him feel as though I'm the most atrociously awkward person to ever walk this earth._

What Lily didn't know was that she affected Scorpius more than she could ever imagine. There he was, receiving the news of him spending Christmas with the Potters, and all he could think of was that he would be in the same house as Lily — possibly bumping into her every now and then — worried if he might be able to control himself.

There won't be anyone else to distract him from Lily either. He'd considered asking Rose out once but he was quite perceptibly aware of the fact that she despised him from the very core of her heart and that wasn't likely to change. Dominique Weasley, (the younger sister of Victoire) was also another option but they had already attempted going out once and it didn't work out well. Besides, she had planned to spend Christmas at her friend Hailey Finnigan's house. Scorpius had ruled out the option of getting distraction through other females, so he only hoped that he would keep himself occupied by spending as much time he could with James, Albus and George.

He had tried denying Albus's offer but he was aware of the fact that his best friend would not take no for an answer. He might even have talked to Scorpius's father already to get his permission so he couldn't use that excuse to get out of it. Scorpius's doubts were cleared when Albus had admitted that he had gotten Mr. Malfoy's permission. There was nothing else he could think of to get out of this.

Scorpius hoped that he would be able to keep his self-control around Lily. He had only gotten a glance at her when she had stormed out of the Quidditch ground over something that Albus had said. He didn't get an answer as to what it was that Albus had said because by then it was time for dinner. Now Scorpius was busy staring at the roast chicken in front of him, unable to gulp it down because he couldn't stop thinking about the possibilities of him and Lily being in such close proximity.

 _Albus will kill me if he finds me snogging his sister...I don't think I'd be able to keep my hands to myself unless she doesn't leave her room at all. What if she looks too beautiful at the Christmas dinner and I can't control myself? Merlin's beard, she's going to look stunning, isn't she? Damn it!_

"Scorp, are you okay?"

Scorpius snapped back to reality when Albus nudged his shoulder.

"Yeah, fine," he said absent-mindedly.

"You've barely touched your food. You sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine, Potter."

Albus shrugged and went back to his food because that seemed far more delicious than worrying about why Scorpius wasn't touching his food.

 _Well, I'll be damned,_ he thought as he looked over at the Gryffindor table where Lily was laughing at something Alice Longbottom was saying. _She's already this striking just in her robes. Merlin knows what she'll do to me if she dresses up._

Scorpius shook his head and returned to his food as his stomach grumbled. Sighing, he decided to eat it after all and dug in, trying his best not to look at Lily. Who knows what the coming Christmas holidays were going to bring.

Lily sat at the window of the dormitory, with her knees pulled up to her chest as she gazed up at the stars. She softly hummed an innocuous tune to herself, her head resting on the wall to her side. _I hope I don't embarrass myself too much,_ she said to herself with a slight uncertainty; while in the Slytherin common room, Scorpius lay on the futon all alone, staring at the ceiling as he wondered what it would feel like to have Lily sitting beside him at the dinner table. _She'd probably blush too much._ He chuckled and then let out a long sigh as his eyes slowly fluttered shut.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 _The first thought that Scorpius Malfoy had when he saw Lily through the glass doors was that he had never seen anything more beautiful. He could barely tear his eyes away from her. They were in Diagon Alley, and Scorpius was with his mother at Madam Malkins to buy new robes. It was the start of his fourth year and he needed new robes. Lily was standing across the lane along with Albus and James, chattering about. When Scorpius's eyes fell on Lily, he looked nowhere else for a while until he had soaked in her features. They had met before, of course. It wasn't the first time that he was seeing her. But now when he looked at her he didn't want anything else before him._

 _He'd never felt as though his eyes could find nothing more delightful when he passed by her in the hallways or listen to her show off how intelligent she was in Potions. To him, Lily Luna Potter was just another classmate, and his best friend Albus Potter's sister. However, today seemed different. Had he not noticed the nearly not noticeable dimples that she got when she smiled? He was sure they weren't there last year. Were her bottle-green eyes sparkling a bit more than normal? Scorpius shook his head and returned to listen to his mother Astoria and Madam Malkin talk about his fittings._

 _"_ _Albus, no!" Lily hollered, and just like that, she had captured Scorpius's gaze again. He frowned and looked at what Albus had done to have Lily react that way. Apparently he was about to drop a U-No-Poo pill into James's water bottle._

Has she always had that sweet a voice? _Scorpius wondered as he watched her pulling Albus back before he had done any damage. James was talking to his mother about something important while Albus decided to test one of the Weasley products on him. Scorpius chuckled and wished that he was there when Albus did it. His eyes returned to Lily._

I never noticed just how pretty she is _, he said to himself and then had to tear his eyes away from her because his fittings were done and his mother was saying something to him about purchasing new school books. He decided to join Albus while Astoria took care of the books. But by the time he reached his destination, Lily had been escorted away by her mother to Gringotts. Scorpius attempted to hide his disappointment and joined his best friend. After all, he was going to see her for the rest of the school year anyway._

The Christmas holidays had arrived earlier than Lily had expected. It had taken a while for her to get prepared to face the reality that is Scorpius and herself being in the same house for two weeks. She had spent most of her time completing her homework and avoiding as many people as she could (mostly Albus and his buddy) so that she didn't have to face any embarrassment before them (mostly _him_ ). She was going to have her share of flushing and stuttering at home anyway because he would be around.

The thoughts of Scorpius Malfoy refused to leave her mind, hard as she tried to distract herself with academics. At this rate, she was going to end up finishing all of her holiday homework before they even began. But Lily didn't care. She'd rather furiously scribble on her notebook instead of have her eyes stuck on him for the next ten minutes or so. At all costs, Lily had avoided conversation with people and Alice was getting more and more agitated at how silly her best friend was being.

"This is not how you stop fancying a Malfoy, Lily," Alice had remarked when she had spotted Lily in the library working on her Charms assignment that was due after the holidays.

"I'm just doing my homework," Lily had responded distractedly.

Alice had then resorted to sighing and leaving her alone, muttering something about how daft the whole thing seemed. Lily, whose attention had shortly wavered, went back to her Charms assignment, which was halfway over already.

It was a couple days after that incident when Rose was helping Lily finish packing since they were to leave the next hour. Lily was panicking because she thought that she had misplaced her broomstick, which, as Rose pointed out, was sitting under the bed.

"You need to calm down, Lily," Rose said, grabbing Lily's shoulders and pushing her onto the bed to sit.

"I am calm!" Lily protested, standing up when Rose pushed her back.

"You're anything but calm," she said sternly. "He's not going to cut your throat and eat you for lunch, Lily. You have got to stop worrying about how you will survive there. You're going home. You'll be meeting Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry after a long time. They miss you. You'll see James. He's waiting to see the two of us. Concentrate on all of that. Uncle George will be there. He wrote to you saying he missed you, right?" Lily sighed and nodded in agreement. "Stop thinking about Malfoy. We're all going to have so much fun there that you'll barely be able to look at him. We'll be busy. Just breathe, okay?"

Rose soothingly rubbed Lily's shoulders and then pulled her into an embrace.

"Everything will be okay," Rose murmured softly.

"Thank you," said Lily, giving her cousin a smile.

Rose ruffled her hair and then shut the trunk.

"Come on, we should go and say our goodbyes," Rose said, and carrying Lily's belongings, the two left the empty dormitory and headed to the great hall where they were to meet Albus and Scorpius before leaving.

Lily apologized to Alice for being so distracted all this time and told her that she'd miss her a lot. Alice waved the apology and instructed Lily to take care of herself and convey her warm wishes to the Potters and Weasleys.

"Have a good Christmas, Lys," Lily said to Lysander, shaking his hand.

He abruptly pulled her into an embrace in response and Lily's eyes went wide, but she returned the affection anyway. She was sure that it was her imagination when she caught a glimpse of Scorpius scowling from across the hall.

"Happy Christmas, Lily," Lysander said and turned to greet another friend while Lily retreated to Alice who was telling Lorcan how much she was going to miss him.

Lorcan and Lily exchanged pleasantries and before she knew it, she was on her way to Godric's Hollow.

Lily was greeted by a thrilled James who had squeezed her into a hug so tightly that she was sure her bones would crack when he released her. She was then met with a bear-hug from Uncle George who ruffled her hair and she had involuntarily straightened it as soon as Scorpius came into view. Just as Lily got busy meeting her parents and Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron, chatting about what had been going on at Hogwarts, Scorpius was trying his best not to keep glancing at Lily every now and then because he was sure that James had spotted him doing so.

So he started talking to George who was exclaiming as to how brilliant some of the Tattling Twins' recent pranks were. Almost immediately, Scorpius distracted himself with George, James, Ron and Albus. The next few hours were spent in discussing about the plans for the holidays and eating all the delicious things that Hermione and Ginny had so lovingly prepared, with the added help (and a little to their annoyance) of Ron, Harry and George.

Towards the end of supper, Lily and Rose had retreated to the former's bedroom that they were going to share for the duration of the holidays. Lily threw herself on her bed and grinned happily as she hugged the horde of cushions around her. Rose chuckled to herself and opened her trunk to find a change of clothes.

"Was it so hard to keep yourself busy with others when he was in the same room?" asked Rose smugly as she walked towards the bathroom.

Lily looked up from emptying her trunk. "Just go!" she hissed playfully in response and returned to placing her clothes in the cabinet.

By the time she was done organizing everything in her room and taking a shower, it was time for dinner. Lily had carefully picked sensible night-clothes to wear since she didn't wish to look like anything but a responsible, mannered fifteen-year-old. She could always change into more comfortable clothing after dinner, in the confinement of her room.

 _He's still not going to look at me,_ she shook her head dejectedly and then left her room, shutting the door behind her since Rose had already left. When Lily reached the dining room, she was glad that everyone had not taken their seats, and were still entering along with her, because she surely didn't want to end up sitting next to him.

 _As if the seat next to him will be the only one left._ Lily scolded herself and took her seat between Rose and Victoire, who couldn't stop gushing about her time in France with her Teddy. Everyone got busy chattering as they took their seats and Lily chuckled at how much noise they were making. Holidays were such fun. She began talking to Aunt Hermione about her academics and Uncle Ron joked that if given a chance, Hermione would go back to Hogwarts and start from first year again just so she could do more homework. That earned laughs from around the table and a glare from Hermione before she joined in.

"Uncle George and I were planning to use the shed for testing some of the new products of his shop," James said to Albus as everyone began eating. "Do you and Scorpius want to join?"

Before Albus could respond, Ginny spoke. "If you hooligans blow up the house, I will personally hex you all."

George raised his hands up in surrender. "Don't worry. Angelina warned us against it." He chuckled. George's kids and Angelina were spending Christmas at Angelina's mother's, which is why they couldn't be there.

Chatter broke out and Lily took as much part as she could in the conversation that Rose and Victoire were having, but she could only concentrate so much when Scorpius was sitting diagonally opposite to her. He was particularly silent, which, as Lily assumed, was because he was new to the surrounding and would take a little time to adjust to the dysfunctional family that was the Potters and the Weasleys. She didn't blame him for being silent.

But that wasn't what was bothering Scorpius. When Lily had left to go to her room along with Rose before dinner, James had cornered him and quite discreetly advised him to keep his distance from Lily. Scorpius had assumed right when he had thought that James had noticed him looking at his sister. As good friends Albus and Scorpius were, James was much the opposite. He didn't particularly hate the Malfoys but he held a certain limit to which he interacted with them. He preferred the rivalry as opposed to the newfound friendship between his brother and Scorpius.

Scorpius was undoubtedly aware of it since the time he and Albus became friends. James had not commented on it but everyone knew that he did not approve of the allegiance. Now that James had so subtly threatened Scorpius that his limbs would be broken were he to make a move on Lily, Scorpius had become even more conscious than he was before. He hadn't told Albus about what James had said, but Albus was aware that something was wrong with his friend. After getting assured by Scorpius that it was nothing but the new surrounding, Albus had left him alone.

Scorpius could only imagine his condition after the two brothers along with their father and uncles had beaten him to death, if he even so much as looked at Lily. It wasn't as though James's threat had scared him. If anything, it had only made Scorpius want to pursue Lily more. But only because he did not wish to lose his best friend, had he decided to keep his control. He wondered how long that would last.

When dinner ended, the men sat in the drawing room while the women took to the yard. Harry and Ginny had re-built the former home of Lily and James Potter to add more space for the accommodation of their family. They had kept most of the original rooms and tweaked them a bit while extending the overall area of the house. The yard now had a swing and a few chairs where the women took seats to catch up on their lives.

Lily and Rose decided to retreat to their rooms — after spending a little time with their respective mothers and aunts — since they were tired after the journey. When they reached, Lily slumped upon the bed and fell asleep almost immediately while Rose took to the single bed that had been set for her across from Lily's four poster.

Down in the drawing room, Scorpius had mentally bid goodnight to Lily when he saw her walk up the stairs to her bedroom. After a while when Albus had uncharacteristically dozed off on the sofa, Harry decided that it was time to go to bed. Scorpius led a drowsy Albus back to their shared room. He had become quite comfortable now since Harry and George had warmly welcomed Scorpius, and quite cordially included him in the conversation. Scorpius rather enjoyed the company of the Potters and Weasleys as opposed to his father's experiences with the same.

Albus had resumed his sleep in moments upon reaching the bedroom. The lights went out shortly after and Scorpius sat on his bed, reading a book since he wasn't feeling particularly sleepy. It felt as though minutes later a gush of cold wind entered through the window and Scorpius's eyes flew open at the sound. He put the book aside and ran a hand through his hair as he stood up to get some water. The jug kept on the table beside Albus's bed didn't have enough water to soothe his parched throat, and Scorpius lazily stumbled towards the door to go to the kitchen.

He wasn't expecting anything unusual to happen. He merely wanted to refill the jug, but what he saw in the kitchen was enough to wake his senses fully. Lily was already gulping down water when he walked in and Scorpius's eyes suddenly became alert. She hadn't noticed him yet.

 _Maybe if I don't make a sound she won't notice me,_ he thought. But Lily had just replaced her glass of water on the stand and turned around. Her eyes widened when she spotted Scorpius stood there leaning on the wall beside him. She suddenly became aware of her attire and wanted to run away but how could she take her eyes away from his untidy hair and rumpled clothes that made him look more attractive than ever, even though she could only see him through the small light above them.

While Lily was stalled there unable to tear her gaze away from him in her partly sleep induced – partly awake state, Scorpius was struggling to avert his eyes from staring at her bare legs covered in shorts. He wanted to act upon the unspeakable thoughts traversing across his mind but how he was controlling himself was a shock that he was still processing.

Lily didn't know how to leave because the only route to go back to her room was to pass by Scorpius. _If he just moves..._ she was eagerly waiting for him to make some movement, and a long moment later, he did. He was absentmindedly walking towards her and Lily's eyes widened. Her heartbeat went erratic and she was sure that he could hear it but before he could come any closer, she bolted past him and sprinted towards the bedroom.

Tightly squeezing her eyes shut, Lily collapsed on the bed and for the rest of the night she struggled to fall back asleep, but her efforts were in vain. Scorpius Malfoy wasn't in a different situation a few doors away from her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: None of the characters belong to me, they are solely owned by J.K. Rowling. The story, however, is a product of my imagination and any resemblance to another fanfic is purely co-incidental.**

 **Chapter 4**

 _Lily was the one of the smartest students in Potions. Harry never failed to point out that her grandmother Lily was also the brightest in Potions. Lily felt her heart swell whenever she heard her father mention it. It was remarkable how she always had answers to everything in said subject. That was the first thing that Scorpius found the most alluring factor in her after her childlike beauty. Everyone at Hogwarts was aware of her wit, whether or not they were in her grade._

 _Scorpius would usually bump into her in the library where she was surrounded with books. He looked for chances to get to talk to her when they were young and he needed to hide because Filch was on his tail. Even when Filch wasn't looking for him, Scorpius would inadvertently find himself in the library, asking Lily not to tell anyone of his hiding spot. She'd comply, and he'd watch her scribble furiously in her notebook from a distance._

 _Scorpius was always intrigued by Lily, but he never realized that he fancied her for reasons besides her attractiveness; that and the fact that Albus had warned him against having any romantic relations with his sister. Scorpius, although devastated, had accepted it and moved on with the long line of girls waiting for him to pick them. That was how towards his fifth year, he had acquired said frivolousness._

 _Unknown to his awareness, Lily Luna Potter's affection towards him kept growing even though (in her mind) he showed no interest in her._

The morning after Lily and Scorpius's kitchen incident, Lily had become more distant than ever. The little amount of attention that she gave to him (smiling when they passed by each other) had vastly reduced. It saddened Scorpius and he wanted to apologize to her for having startled her. He only realized when he woke up that he had been about to make the biggest mistake of his life when he had started to walk towards her. The only thing that was on his mind was doing something that would bring them closer in proximity. Had Lily not been alert enough to run away, Scorpius didn't know if he would've been able to keep his hands from holding that of hers and pulling her in.

As much happiness as that would have brought to him, it would have been highly inappropriate after he had plainly been warned to keep his distance from James and Albus's sister. Scorpius suddenly wanted to leave the Potter's and go back to Malfoy Manor where he wouldn't have to face this kind of discomfort around a certain red-haired girl. He only wondered what Lily must think of him.

 _Was he going to kiss me?_ Lily was staring off into space. _Oh, Merlin. Was he really going to..._ she shook her head.

"Don't be foolish, Lily," she muttered to herself.

Lily was sitting on the swing in the yard where Albus, James and Scorpius were swirling about on their broomsticks while George and Ron were chatting about Quidditch. The women had gone out to purchase presents for everyone while Rose was baking and Lily took to some reading. She had been sitting in the yard for a while now when the boys decided to show up. She wanted to get up and leave just as soon as she saw Scorpius but she felt as though it would seem curious to the rest of them.

She'd rather not raise doubts in her brothers' minds for no serious reason. Scorpius had walked past her, giving her a fleeting look and Lily had pretended not to notice. She fumbled around in her seat to get a comfortable position so she didn't have to be in direct eyesight of Scorpius. The boys were hollering and chattering, which rather had her concentration waver but she tried not to pay attention to it. Mostly she tried not to pay attention to Scorpius's voice that gave her all kinds of sensations.

 _Can he just stop talking?_ She stood up to leave when she couldn't take any more of his hovering. Shutting her book, Lily settled on going into the kitchen and helping Rose with her baking. The moment Lily disappeared from the front door that she left ajar, Scorpius's expression faltered. He suddenly wasn't enjoying this flying session. For the short time that she was there he had felt quite exhilarated and even though it was a bit awkward between them, he wanted to capture her attention somehow.

"I need to use the bathroom," he said to Albus and descended to the ground. Albus gave him a distracted nod since he was busy talking to James but the latter gave him a suspicious glance since Lily had walked in minutes ago.

Scorpius noticed it, but frankly he didn't care anymore. He wanted to talk to Lily and apologize for whatever he had done to upset her the previous night. If nothing else, he at least wished to be cordial with her and be her friend. _I can surely be her friend,_ he thought to himself as he determinedly strode into the kitchen where Rose and Lily were laughing over something while mixing a batter that looked an awful lot like cake. _Her friend and nothing more._ Scorpius nearly forgot what he was there for because Lily looked more adorable than ever with her forehead covered in spots of flour.

He was brought back to reality when Rose found him stood at the door. She raised an eyebrow and Scorpius nervously cleared his throat. Lily snapped her head in his direction and her eyes widened for a moment.

"Umm...may I speak to you, Lily?" He managed, suppressing the urge to wipe her forehead clean.

Lily's jaw dropped and for a while she was speechless until Rose nudged her in the rib.

"I...uh...why?" Lily stammered and mentally hit herself for being so nervous.

"Just for a moment, please?" He gave her a smile. How was she to refuse now?

She fretfully wiped her hands on her apron and pulled it off before placing it on the stand. Rose gave Lily an encouraging nod and pushed her forward so she would move. Lily tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and followed Scorpius out of the kitchen.

He led her towards the stairs where he was sure nobody would interrupt him and turned to face her. He wanted to wipe off the flour off of her forehead but he controlled himself and gave her an anxious grin.

"I wanted to apologize," he said. Lily frowned.

"What for?"

She mentally applauded herself for having spoken without stuttering this time.

"I...I made you feel uncomfortable last night and I–I just...I'm sorry," he murmured so softly that Lily wasn't sure she had heard him right.

 _Scorpius Malfoy is apologizing to me for something. Unbelievable._

"Tha-that's okay." She tucked her hair behind her ear again. "It was the middle of the night and its...it's you know...it's alright."

Lily wanted to kick herself for acting this way. It was starting to annoy her a lot more than it did before. This was the first time that Scorpius was talking to her about something that happened between them as opposed to passing a message from Albus or talking about academics. Nervous as she was, Lily liked talking to him.

"Do you think we could be friends?" He asked hopefully, shoving his hands into his pockets.

If Lily's heart hadn't accelerated already, it was on its way now.

"You-you want us to be friends?" She responded, surprised.

It was the most wonderful idea she had ever heard. She wanted to hug him for saying that and never let go.

"If you want to, that is. It's not a compulsion. You can say no, its alright. I just thought we would feel more comfortable around each other if we were to—"

"I'd love to," Lily cut him off and offered a smile.

Scorpius grinned back.

"Brilliant," said he. He began to say something when Albus called out for him and he had to leave. Lily watched his platinum blond hair whisk out of sight as she returned to the kitchen, grinning.

"You seem rather cheerful," Rose commented when Lily walked in.

"He said that—"

"—That he loves you?" Rose grinned merrily.

Lily rolled her eyes. _As if._

"No, Rose. He said that he wants us to be _friends._ "

Rose's expression fell and she gave Lily a discomforted look.

"That's far from what I had in mind," she muttered as she cleaned the stand.

"What happened to you?" Lily furrowed her eyebrows. "Are you starting to accept a Malfoy?" She nudged Rose in the rib and chuckled.

Lily was feeling as though everything in the world was beautiful. She felt ecstatic knowing that she was his friend. It was a good deal of development after years of just being Albus's sister.

"I just think you two look perfect together," Rose smiled dreamily, and Lily smacked her shoulder playfully as her cheeks turned crimson.

"Shut it," she muttered.

"Why in Merlin's name would you be in the kitchen, Rose?!" Hermione exclaimed as she walked into the kitchen followed by Ginny.

"We were baking!" Rose replied and Lily quietly exited the kitchen. Rose had a history of making a never-to-be-cleaned-mess whenever she was in the kitchen and Hermione was tired of telling her daughter to stay away.

Naturally, Rose never seemed to give up on her horrible cooking abilities. Lily didn't know as to why she had been helping Rose bake because she was sure that she had seen horrendous lumps in the batter that couldn't be fixed with spells.

"What is that smell?" Albus remarked as he entered through the front door followed by the rest of the men.

"That's Rose baking," Lily answered and Ron coughed uncomfortably.

"Should we go somewhere to eat tonight?" He asked Harry who laughed in response.

"No, mate," he said. "I think we'll have to deal with Rose's freshly baked cake tonight."

Ron groaned and George said something about adding Puking Pastilles in the cake and feeding the whole thing to Ron. Lily chuckled and grabbed the book she was reading from the centre-table in the drawing room and left to go to her room.

"Lily!" Scorpius called out, jogging towards her up the stairs. She stopped midway and turned around only to have him nearly topple her over.

Lily instinctively placed a palm on his chest to steady him. He chuckled and took a breath. When she realized what she had done, Lily immediately pulled her hand back. Scorpius wanted to tell her that he did not have a problem with it being there but it was too late (or maybe too early in their friendship).

"Do you want to take flying lessons with me?" He asked. Taken aback, Lily stared at him for a few seconds, contemplating what he had just said.

"Flying lessons?"

"Yes, I know you've always wanted to be a Chaser," he said. "You could go for the trials next year."

"How do you know I've always wanted to be a Chaser?"

Lily could swear that she had never told anyone about wanting to try for the Gryffindor team. She'd always wanted to be a Chaser but she was lacking somewhere a little bit. Albus had refused to help her when she had asked him, because he was a little too busy with his practice. Lily had promptly given up hope after that because she didn't know anyone else who'd help if not Albus.

"Doesn't matter," Scorpius answered. "Do you want to or not?"

"Umm sure. That-that would be wonderful," she said gleefully.

How could she refuse an offer like that?

"Then we'll start tonight after everyone is asleep."

"Why after everyone is asleep?"

Scorpius smirked and leant forward so he was close to her ear. He was sure that the closeness would render a reaction in her and he didn't know as to why he was even doing it.

"Because I've been warned to stay away from you," he whispered, and Lily's heartbeat went erratic instantaneously. "But evidently it seems that I can't."

Before Lily could gauge what had just happened, Scorpius had disappeared down the stairs leaving her holding onto the railing for support.

 _Oh, dear._ She ran a hand through her hair, and trying her best to contemplate what Scorpius had meant, walked towards her room.

Down in the drawing room, Scorpius plopped down on the couch seeming much happier than he had been since their arrival as he chatted with George and Harry. James did not fail to notice the sudden change in his behaviour.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: None of the characters belong to me, they are solely owned by J.K. Rowling. The story, however, is a product of my imagination and any resemblance to another fanfic is purely co-incidental.**

 _ **A/N: Thank you for all of the encouraging reviews. They've really given me motivation to write more. Please continue with them and feel free to point out mistakes, if any. Happy Reading!**_

 **Chapter 5**

 _"_ _I don't think she'll be able to do it," said Albus as he tapped his broomstick on the grass._

 _Scorpius frowned. "Why do you think so?" He asked, genuinely concerned as to why Albus thought Lily wouldn't be able to try for Chaser._

 _"_ _She's too frail for Quidditch."_

 _Scorpius scoffed._

 _"_ _I hardly think so," he said. "She has a good deal of your mother's traits. And who doesn't know about Ginny bat-bogey-hex Weasley? I'm sure Lily might end up acquiring a similar title in a few years."_

 _Albus shook his head in response. "She just doesn't have the qualities to become a good Chaser."_

 _"_ _Everyone needs a chance, Alb."_

 _"_ _The match is about to begin. I should go."_

 _With that, Albus left to join the team while Scorpius — who couldn't be a part of the Gryffindor-Slytherin match that day due to his injured foot — sighed remorsefully as he took his seat on the stands. His eyes travelled around until they were resting on Lily who was sitting on the Gryffindor stands, at the edge of her seat as she watched the match begin with fervour. Scorpius wished he could help her be part of the Gryffindor team someday. She just needed a little bit of motivation._

Lily mounted her broom and it rose above to Scorpius's level. It was after midnight, and the pair had snuck out of their rooms to meet in the yard for Lily's first flying lesson. Saying that she was excited would be an understatement. After dinner, she had been frantically pacing her room wondering how her first lesson with Scorpius would be. All the thoughts of being alone with him had been replaced by those of whether she could really try out for the team. She had barely been able to gulp down the double chocolate cake that Rose had prepared for desert(mainly because it tasted worse than Polyjuice Potion with the essence of Crabbe in it as Ron pointed out) as she was busy counting the hours until it was time for flying.

Just as soon as Lily was sure that everyone was asleep, she had — softly as she could — rushed out of her room to reach the yard where Scorpius was already waiting for her. Lily had stopped short at the door when she spotted him with his head tilted upwards, and his hair (that was sticking up in all directions) swaying due to the gushes of wind traversing around. For a long moment, Lily couldn't take her eyes away from him. She then shook herself out of her reverie and proceeded to walk towards him.

There was a hint of a smile that she noticed when she neared him. It was replaced with a grin when felt her stood beside him.

"Good evening," he said. "Shall we start?"

His enthusiasm made Lily feel as though she would tear up with happiness. She nodded in response, unable to say anything as she returned his gleeful smile. _How could he have made me this happy with just a flying lesson that hasn't even begun yet?_

Lily was up in the air at his level, and Scorpius began to explain to her as to how agile a Chaser must be.

"Chasers are the most interesting part of Quidditch until the Golden Snitch is spotted," he said. "Your eyes must always be on the Quaffle. You need to be quick when getting the Quaffle into the goal hoops past the Keeper. Focus is key. Our first lesson is to fly as fast as we can. To that clock tower," he pointed far ahead at a blurry tall building. "At the count of three; One..." Scorpius looked at Lily as she positioned herself beside him and they hovered above ground together. "Two..." Lily narrowed her eyes and kept her vision straight ahead at the clock tower. Scorpius smiled. "Three..." She was a bit ahead of him already.

Scorpius flew forward and came beside Lily, and wind swished past them as they went ahead swiftly. With her eyes solely focussed on the tower, Lily whooshed forward and Scorpius followed after her, impressed at the speed at which she was going.

He wasn't purposely going slowly; it would be unfair to her. She was naturally fast. Owing to that she had suddenly disappeared and Scorpius flew faster to find her. When he reached the clock tower, Lily had already rounded it and was hovering on the other side of it, with a proud grin across her face. Before Scorpius could say anything to praise her, she had flown forward in the direction of their home. He could only follow.

"That wasn't so difficult," said Lily when the both of them had reached the yard.

The cold air, which should quite obviously have bothered Lily, had no such effect on her since she was so high on adrenaline that there was nothing else she could focus on apart from flying. It gave her a certain ecstasy that nothing else did.

"That was great," Scorpius commented. "I'm impressed."

"Thank you." She smiled.

They took a few more rounds around the house itself where Lily tried to dodge Scorpius's attacks. She was having more fun than she had ever had in months. After a while they took some rest and then returned to their positions to race to the clock tower again.

"Now you have to stand on the broom as we race back," he said. "You think you can manage that?" He raised a brow challengingly.

Lily merely smiled and began to fly back towards the clock tower, standing up on the broom midway. She balanced herself much as she could due to the wind and for while could sustain it, but a few moments later she wavered and her feet wobbled on the broom. Before she knew it, she was holding onto it for support as she dangled below. The broom began to descend downwards threateningly. Panicking, Lily tried to pull herself up when suddenly an arm wrapped around her waist and she was lifted up skilfully so she was sitting on the broom again.

Lily's rapid heartbeat increased its pace even more when she realized how close Scorpius had been mere moments ago. She let out a breath that she was holding and cleared her throat. Suddenly the air around felt extremely chilly and she wanted to go back home, wrap a blanket around her, and sleep. Scorpius and Lily quietly hovered about for a while, unable to move.

He wanted to say something to assure her that it was okay, that people kept dangling down their brooms all the time in Quidditch, but he didn't know how to broach the subject without thinking about how close his lips had been to her ear when he had held her. Scorpius wanted to be that close to her again and again but he straightened himself and decided that it was time for the lesson to end.

Without a word, he swayed his broom around and left the way home. Lily had no option but to follow. When they reached the yard and were settled on the ground, Scorpius felt as though it was his responsibility to give her some sort of assurance and let her know that he was there.

"Lily," he said as she made her way towards the door. She turned to him, with her hands wrapped around herself due to the chilly wind. He took a hesitant step closer.

"You won't be harmed at all when you're with me, okay?" he said softly.

Lily watched him for a moment contemplating whether he was talking about flying or something else.

"Flying is a little bit tricky, and you always fall when you learn to walk. So don't worry. I'll be here with you until you're sure enough to go with it on your own. And it won't take much time for you to succeed. You're a fast learner."

Scorpius hoped that his attempt to make her feel better was not failing. He didn't want to disappoint her in any way. She had to trust him if they were to prepare her to be a Chaser. And for some odd reason, Lily did seem to trust him.

"Thank you, Scorpius," she replied quietly. "That means a lot." She smiled.

"Goodnight, Lily," he then said as they walked to the door.

"Goodnight."

The two of them then disappeared into their own rooms. Lily smiled as she shut the door and fell onto her bed, covering herself with the blanket after shutting the window that was letting cold air in. She sighed and closed her eyes, the smile still intact upon her face. A few doors away, in his room, Scorpius ran a hand through his hair as he sat on the bed, staring at the wall opposite to him. _She's too damn beautiful to stay away from,_ he thought and fell into a deep slumber.

The next morning Lily woke up to the sight of snowfall outside of her window. She smiled and stretched her limbs as she pushed the unruly strands of hair falling on her face.

"Good morning," chirped Rose.

She was already showered and dressed, on her way down for breakfast when Lily returned the greeting drowsily. Rose stopped at the door and turned to face her cousin.

"Is it just the snow that's making you smile or do I need to know something?" she asked with playful suspicion.

Lily rolled her eyes. How did Rose know things that she was hiding?

"It's just the snow, Rose," she answered, dragging herself out of bed and yawning.

Rose cocked a brow and an amused smirk took over her features as she shut the door and crossed her arms across her jumper-clad chest. Lily gave her a questioning look.

"Certainly not the snow," said she. "You're wearing your Quidditch shoes. May I ask as to why you slept in those?"

Rose pointed to Lily's shoe-clad feet and Lily groaned in response. _I am the most dim-witted person ever._ She had been so occupied with the thoughts of the first lesson and Scorpius that taking off her shoes was the last thing on her mind.

"I was...I was feeling cold. My feet needed the shoes," she managed, scratching the back of her head awkwardly.

Lily wished that Rose's interrogation would end soon so she could get dressed and go down to the dining room. She was hungry.

"You're an awful liar," Rose commented, chuckling. "I wasn't sure whether it was just a dream or I really saw a broom fly past the window after midnight. But I think now my suspicions have been confirmed."

"What?" Lily exclaimed with dread. "If you saw that then someone else must have noticed as well!"

Rose let out a laugh, throwing her head back. "I didn't see or hear anything, Lily," she assured. "I just wanted to get the truth out of you. Don't worry. I'm sure Malfoy must have secured the area so as to keep you from being detected."

"How do you know Scorpius had something to do with it?" Lily frowned.

Rose rolled her eyes as though she had stated the obvious. "Why else would you slip out in the middle of the night?"

Lily gave a nod of understanding.

"Be a bit careful though," said Rose. "We don't want James or Albus finding out that you two are going for secret flying sessions."

"I will." Lily smiled. "Thanks, Rose."

Rose smiled and walked out of the room, leaving Lily to get ready. When Lily reached downstairs dressed in one of the Weasley jumpers made by Ginny (though she always said they were not nearly as perfect as those made by Molly), Scorpius let out a long sigh. It pained him to see how delightful she looked in the jumper paired with dark-blue jeans and boots covering her legs up to her knees. If it were up to him, he'd take her out with him for some Butterbeer, uninterrupted of the chaos that her family created.

Scorpius didn't know as to how long his resolve would last if she continued to seem so appealing to him. And he awaited as well as dreaded that day.

"Dad," James said when they sat down for breakfast. "Do you think we kids could go to the memorial today?"

Harry smiled. "I don't see why not," he answered.

Lily was looking forward to the visit. Every year during holidays, the kids would all go to the memorial, pay their respects to Lily and James Potter, and then go to the pub close by for some Butterbeer. Lily was always eager to see the statues of her grandparents and she made it a point to visit by herself once every two weeks during the summer holidays. This year even Scorpius would be accompanying them. Lily wondered if he would be comfortable.

"We'll leave after breakfast, then," said Albus.

When breakfast was over, the kids left to go visit the memorial. As they were walking, Lily alongside Rose and Victoire, faint chatter accompanied them. Victoire could not stop gushing about the Notre Dame in Paris, which, as she remarked, was the most beautiful architecture that she had ever seen, regardless of who was listening to her. James and Albus were busy talking about what Albus planned to do after he graduated, while Scorpius and Lily snuck glances at each other. Somehow they ended up walking side by side and Lily wanted to go back to Rose and Victoire but they were at quite a distance, as were Albus and James.

"I hope you enjoyed the lesson last night," said Scorpius softly. "Despite the little accident."

Lily chuckled. She found that she was starting to become a bit more comfortable around him than she was before.

"I did, thank you," she said.

The stuttering was nearly gone now and Lily looked forward to when she would get to talk to him again. She hoped that they could be good friends if not anything more.

"When do you want to meet for the next one?"

"Tonight?" She asked eagerly.

"I thought you'd say that." He smiled. "Tonight, then."

Although they were comfortable with each other now, there was a tension that still lingered around, one which none of them wished to touch anytime soon. They were aware that it would only make everything worse and didn't wish to lose a potential friend owing to their feelings.

"Well, hurry up, you dawdling kids!" Hollered James, and Scorpius was thankful that Rose and Victoire were now close by since he didn't wish to be caught talking to Lily all by himself.

"Shut it!" Rose yelled back with annoyance and James stuck his tongue out at her.

Lily and Scorpius chuckled to themselves. Their expressions changed when they rounded the corner to the memorial. There stood the statues of James and Lily Potter, the latter holding baby Harry in her arms lovingly. Lily walked ahead absentmindedly with her hands stuffed into the pockets of her jumper. She took a breath, shrugging her shoulders due to the chilly air around.

The rest of them stood beside her as they silently paid their respects. Rose, who was carrying flowers, placed them at the feet of the statues before she stepped back to her initial position beside Lily. Lily's eyes were shut as she silently spoke to her namesake grandmother about visiting again soon on her own. Rose held Lily's hand and gave her a smile.

When they were ready, the group made their way towards the pub that James led them to. A comfortable silence lingered and nobody found the need to talk until Albus tripped over a rock covered in snow and fell face-first. Laughter broke out among them as Scorpius helped his best friend up who bore a scowl that turned into laughter as well.

James was still laughing continuously even though the others weren't. Rose threw a ball of snow at his face to shut him up. Moments later, snowballs were flying across everywhere and Lily was found ducking behind a bench as Scorpius threw one at her. Victoire had muttered something about immaturity and childishness as she sat down on a bench across from the one Lily was hiding behind.

James, who was aiming at Albus, ended up hitting Victoire accidentally. She yelled some obscenities at him and stomped off the way back home. Lily was hit soon enough when she tried to find a way out. When she realized that it was Scorpius, she bent to gather some snow in her hands and hit him hard as she could, laughing when he toppled over as he slipped. James, Albus and Rose were too busy to notice when Scorpius had sprinted over to Lily and hit her again, only to tackle her to the ground as they broke out into fits of laughter lying side by side.

She was still holding her tummy and laughing when Scorpius stopped suddenly as he watched her flushed cheeks so close to his hand. Unable to help himself, his fingers lightly touched her skin and Lily gasped at the feel, her laughter dying down. She looked back at him quietly as his face began to get closer and closer...and closer until she jerked back when Rose called out her name.

Lily was immediately on her feet as she rushed towards Rose since the boys had started walking towards the pub. Scorpius muttered a few obscenities under his breath as he stood up and followed. He wanted to smash his head on a wall for being so silly. How could he have nearly kissed her? Now there was no way that she would be any more comfortable with him than she had already been. It had taken him a while to get her to warm up to him anyway.

Lily nervously walked alongside Rose who was chattering and frolicking around with their brothers. When they reached the pub, Lily promptly took a seat between Rose and James, while Albus and Scorpius sat on the other side. _He really was going to kiss me,_ she shuddered at the thought. What would have happened had he actually kissed her? Things would've been left in a disorderly state, and Lily didn't want to think of that possibility as much as she was thrilled knowing that she wasn't the only one feeling something. She had waited for this day for years and now that it was finally here, she was terrified to accept the reality.

Her thoughts drowned away as they all began to chat and laugh and she barely took a glance at Scorpius who was trying his best to take his eyes away from her. Lily only wondered whether their next flying lesion would be any less awkward.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

That night when Lily spotted Scorpius out in the yard muttering spells to conceal their presence, she could barely stop thinking about how close his face had been to that of hers – mere hours ago. She had spent the entire day avoiding him as best she could, but since the preparations for the Christmas had begun already, it was quite difficult to do so. She had tried her best to dodge him when the family was sitting in the drawing room, milling about and chattering over the celebration plans. Lily had inadvertently bumped into him when he had gotten up to grab his mug of warm chocolate milk that Hermione had prepared for everyone.

Scorpius had nearly tripped over a fallen cushion, to have his mug join the floor when Lily's hand had unwittingly shot up to steady him by his arm. And then there they were, looking quietly into each other's eyes as though they would answer all of life's questions. The pair broke apart when Ron burst out laughing along with George about a prank that Albus had just narrated. Later, Lily had scolded herself in her head when she had passed by Scorpius — to sit next to Rose because of lack of space in the room — and there was no way they could both go at the same time due to the crowded room. Scorpius had to stop in his way, step aside carefully so as not to fall over the centre table, and Lily had to squeeze her way through between him and a chattering sofa, where she was almost as good as embracing him. What she felt was exquisite and alarmingly obvious to him at the same time.

After that, Lily had resorted to staying as far away as she could from Scorpius because there was really no other way of controlling herself from thinking about the potential kiss (although she wanted to have it happen again). But some way or another, she would find herself in his presence. What she didn't know was that it wasn't some sort of magic that was bringing them closer but Scorpius himself who wanted to talk to her. He had eliminated the fact that he wasn't supposed to have any romantic relationship with her. By the time they had left the pub and returned home, he had decided that he didn't care if James and Albus had warned him against it. He would find a way to hide it from them and if they did find out, he'd somehow convince Albus because they were best friends, and as for James, Scorpius cared a damn.

James was free to beat him to death, but Scorpius had completely lost his resolve. All he wished to do now was to bring Lily out of her shell that stopped her from accepting her feelings for him. He was going to use every trick in the book to get her to confess without him having to do the same. And Scorpius was certain that he wouldn't fail. Lily's resolve was bound to break just as his had broken. Together they'd find a way to get around the wrath of her two brothers. The best time to get his work done was during their flying lessons. Scorpius was glad to know that their little moment had not had any effect on Lily's determination to become a Chaser.

Who knew Quidditch could be used as a source of winning a girl over?

"Are you planning to stand there all night?"

Lily snapped out of her reverie as Scorpius strode towards her in a predatory manner. She was taken aback for a moment when she saw this teasing glint in her eyes that she had usually witnessed whenever he was trying to charm a girl in school. She shook the thought away. Why would he be charming her of all people?

"Sorry," she muttered sheepishly as he came to stand beside her. "I was just admiring the stars."

Scorpius followed her gaze up to the sky only to see that the stars were aligned in a beautifully peculiar manner that night. He smiled.

"Astronomy does make you see the sky in a different way, doesn't it?" He commented as they watched the twinkling stars beaming down at them as though admiring the pair as they were admiring the sky.

"I'm glad we can fly," said Lily. "The stars seem closer to touch that way."

Scorpius observed as she gleefully stood there beside him, and wondered how much he loved spending time with her. He had never enjoyed flying as much as he did with her.

"Shall we?" He asked after a while. Lily snapped her head towards him as though she suddenly remembered what they had come out in the yard for.

She distractedly nodded in response, unable to speak since he was much too close than usual. Not that she minded it, but it didn't fail to disconcert her.

Together the pair mounted their brooms and rose up higher to a considerable level above ground. Scorpius began to give her the instructions. "We're going to try standing again this time, alright?"

Lily inwardly shuddered at the thought of what had happened the first time she had tried standing.

"Don't worry," said Scorpius. "I'll help you." For some reason, she trusted him and lost the worry.

"Now, follow my movements. Notice how I balance myself and take the proper stance to make it easier for flying."

Scorpius gently raised his right foot and lifting himself, placed it on the broom so stealthily that Lily was in awe of his effortlessness. There was a certain rippling nature in his body when he balanced himself onto the broom. Lily realized that being a seeker, he had to be this refined in his movements.

"Fly beside me but don't stand," said he. "Just observe carefully."

Lily nodded, concentrating on how his legs were positioned on the broom. Taking note of his stature, she followed as he flew ahead, gliding forward and dodging the wind rushing in their direction. His stance was so skilled; it astounded Lily as she wondered why she hadn't noticed it up till now during Quidditch matches. Perhaps she was too busy trying _not_ to look at him.

When they rounded the clock tower and returned to the yard, Lily was a bit more confident about herself than she had been before. With his help, she might just be able to hold straight while standing. Scorpius instructed her to stand and she did, copying his movements.

"Ready?" He asked when she was sure that her position was intact. Lily nodded and off they went, flying side by side and slowly increasing their pace as they proceeded. Lily smiled as she realized that she was able to balance after all when suddenly a strong gush of wind had her legs wobbling, and she was afraid that there would be a repeat of last time. But before anything could happen, Scorpius had held Lily's hand in a tight grip. She steadied herself instinctively and didn't let go of his hand for the rest of the journey.

Even though she could barely ignore the tingling sensation passing through her veins, Lily held onto him due to fear of falling again. She did not want to lose one more time. She could not embarrass herself once again; at least not in front of him. She had already had enough of her share of those moments all these years.

Soon they had rounded the clock tower and were now on their way back to the yard when Scorpius gently let his fingers slide from under those of Lily's. She immediately missed the warmth of his touch and realized that it wasn't the cold that had chills running down her spine.

Lily managed to keep herself standing on the broom for the rest of their journey, and breathed out a sigh of relief when they stopped.

"That wasn't so bad," said Scorpius as he encouragingly smiled at a distressed Lily. She didn't think she had been up to the mark.

"Practice makes perfect, Lily," he said, and she nodded in response.

"Let's go again?" She asked, and Scorpius grinned happily.

"Do you want to try another route?"

"Sure." Lily shrugged.

They stood on their brooms again and took off in the opposite direction, passing the church and swivelling above the pub that they had gone to that very morning. This time Scorpius didn't have to hold Lily's hand, for she had balanced herself quite well and had this aura of confidence around her that Scorpius didn't fail to notice. By the time they were done, Scorpius was quite impressed by his pupil's progress.

"You've done quite well for yourself tonight," he commented when they landed on the ground softly.

Lily grinned.

"Thank you!"

She felt euphoric after having flown well enough by gathering the remainder of her confidence. Lily wanted to hug him out of happiness; her resolve was starting to weaken a bit more than it already was.

"We'll try dodging attacks tomorrow," said Scorpius, placing both of their brooms in the shed.

Lily excitedly awaited the next day so she could practice again. The cold and loss of sleep had no desired effect on her. If not for the fact that it was late, she would've spent a few more hours practicing. Scorpius returned to Lily's side where she was standing beside the swing. She was gazing up at the stars again. It truly was a beautiful night.

"They're so pretty," she breathed in awe.

"They are." Scorpius followed her gaze.

He attempted to think of something for a moment before finding a good spot, and laying down on the ground, with his hands settled under his head. He had a great view of the stars now. Lily looked at him curiously.

"What are you doing?"

Scorpius didn't reply; just smiled and continued looking up at the sky as he counted the stars in his view. Lily didn't know what made her do it, but soon she was beside him, their positions identical as they looked at the twinkling lights above them.

"That one there," said Scorpius. Lily followed to where his finger was pointing at. "It's Sirius."

Lily gazed at the star that stood out in the midst of the rest, shining proudly above them all, as though it knew that it was the brightest one of all; the one that stood out the most. It reminded Lily of someone familiar.

"Dad's godfather," she whispered to herself.

"Hmm?" Scorpius prodded abstractedly.

"Sirius Black was dad's godfather," she repeated.

"Ah . . ." he sighed. "Grandma mentioned it once . . . Harry Potter. The boy who lived."

"And who defeated Voldemort."

"He-who-must-not-be-named!" Scorpius mocked and Lily burst out laughing.

"Shush!" She hissed softly as Scorpius's laughter boomed in the silence. "Someone will hear you!"

"Then let them," he answered boldly. "What's the worst that could happen?"

"Well, I'm sure you wouldn't be called 'the boy who lived' after James uses the killing curse against you." Lily chuckled.

Scorpius sardonically placed a hand upon his heart. "Ah, the agony."

Lily laughed again as she playfully hit his shoulder with her elbow.

"Really," she said. "He might kill you if he found you here alone with me, in the middle of the night."

"Why? As far as I know, spending time with someone you like isn't a felony." Scorpius challenged as their smiles vanished.

His face inched closer. Her heart started to race. And the pair looked at each other as though piercing holes through their eyes . . . as though trying to win a game. Lily's heart thudded loudly in her chest as his words sunk in. _Someone you like_ . . . _is he insinuating what I think he is?_

"When it comes to me and you, James does think it's a felony," she answered intrepidly.

Lily didn't know where the confidence was coming from. Perhaps it was the Butterbeer that they had had that morning. But surely the effects of that would have worn out by now. She wondered how she hadn't stuttered a bit this night. Maybe it was the nippy air, the flying lesson that had left her energetic or maybe she had just gotten immune to him being this close. But that did not fail to accelerate her heart as though it was a Seeker whirring about to catch the golden snitch amid a foggy sky.

"Then perhaps I don't care what he does," said Scorpius. "I'd happily be punished if it meant being here with you."

Lily had nothing to say to that. How could she come up with a response just as earth shattering as that of his? She was no expert; her talking skills always took the wrong turn when it came to Scorpius. He had a way of leaving her speechless or worse, a stuttering . . . stammering . . . jittery mess.

Thinking that the best she could do was to keep quiet, Lily returned to the stars as did Scorpius. Sometime later — as they lay there talking in soft murmurs about the various constellations that Scorpius had seen with his mother from the tower of the Malfoy Manor, and the fact that in their family most people were named after stars and constellations — Lily found her hand encased in that of Scorpius's. Why she hadn't pulled away yet, she knew not.

Perhaps it was the fact that she liked the warmth of his skin on hers; the softness of his touch despite the sternness of his hand or perhaps the tingling sensations that she was experiencing throughout. It was as though she never wanted to let go. She would have stayed there out in the yard just gazing up at the stars along with him if it were possible. But the night was growing darker, and it was time to go if they didn't wish to be caught in the morning. Lily turned to look at him after a long while of silence, and tell him that they should leave when she saw his closed eyes.

She watched the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed deep breaths; his hair that was swaying due to the wind –and had the sudden urge to rest her head on his extended arm and fall asleep. But she was worried that they would catch a cold in the chilly air, aside from the fact that it would be highly appalling to enact what she was thinking. Pulling the Weasley jumper tighter around herself, Lily sat up and gently shook Scorpius's shoulder to awaken him.

She didn't want to break such a rest but she had no option. When he didn't respond to her touch, she shook his shoulder a little more.

"Scorpius," she whispered softly, making sure she wasn't loud enough.

"Scorpius," she prodded again and he muttered something incoherent and clutched her hand that he was holding, tighter. That was when Lily realized that they were still holding hands. She felt her cheeks redden at the contact and gently pulled her fingers out of his grasp.

His eyes slightly opened and Lily shook his shoulder again.

"What?" He hissed; a small frown upon his forehead.

"We have to go inside."

"No," he muttered and shut his eyes again.

"Come on, Scorpius." She grabbed his shoulders and pushed him up so he was sitting, halfway leaning onto her. "Get up."

Drowsily, Scorpius stood up with Lily's help and his arm found its way around her shoulder as she dragged him forward. Lily stumbled, trying to balance his weight on her as she walked towards the door of the house, with her hand gripping his waist. She managed to lead him up to Albus's room and carefully pushed the door open so as not to awaken her brother. Quietly as she could, Lily released him onto the bed and threw his dangling feet up before covering him with the blanket that lay at his feet.

She glanced at Albus to make sure he was asleep. Luckily, he was a heavy sleeper and only awakened when someone deliberately shook him. Lily was about to turn around and leave when Scorpius whispered her name sleepily. She leant closer so she could hear what he was saying.

"You look awfully pretty in the jumper," he muttered and as Lily felt a blush arising on her already warm face, she heard his soft snores as he dozed off into a deep slumber.

Without letting herself fall into the temptation of pecking his cheek, Lily rushed out of the room as softly as she could. She returned to her room and noticed that it was nearly three a.m.

Yawning, she fell atop the bed, and with a smile permanently designing her face, Lily slept.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

It was a day before Christmas Eve, and the hustle around the house was intensified. The women had all started to pack and arrange presents for everyone while the men were busy helping in decoration (which, as Ron grumbled, was quite dragging a task. It earned a scowl from Hermione). The kids had been assigned the task of cleaning and arranging the drawing room in order to place the extended dining table there since there wasn't enough space in the dining room. The amount of delicacies that were going to be prepared couldn't possibly fit on the original table.

Albus, Rose, James, Scorpius and Lily were all busy in the drawing room, discussing as to how they would prepare everything so it wasn't clustered, and matched the standards of Ginny's instructions. Lily had been asked to keep quiet (by Albus) because she was the youngest one and didn't need to give advice; just had to help and do what she was told. Quite offended by that comment, Lily hadn't said a word after that, partly because it was Christmas time and she didn't want to fight, besides the fact that nobody else protested against Albus's rude remark.

Albus had always been this ignorant and discourteous towards her, which she chose to ignore because she had better things to worry about than her brother being a deliberate pain. What hurt her more than Albus's behaviour was Scorpius having kept quiet as well. She didn't expect any less from James and Rose but after the budding friendship and closeness between them, Lily had hoped that Scorpius would take her side. After all, she had only suggested that they could seal the back door by placing cabinets in front of it to make more space. That was when Albus had shut her up. But she heard no protest from anyone.

Scorpius had just stood there quietly with his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans as though nothing had happened. He hadn't stolen a single glance in her direction all morning, and Lily wondered why. She had thought that there would be more interaction between them after previous night's flying lesson, but after breakfast, she had noticed that Scorpius had barely even looked at her; let alone a small smile that she was expecting.

Perhaps he was intentionally ignoring her in front of Albus and James is what Lily comforted herself with. She'd know if something was wrong when they meet for the lesson tonight. Lily was right about the fact that Scorpius was intentionally ignoring her, but the reason behind it wasn't the presence of her two brothers. His scheme of getting Lily to accept her feelings for him included her being avoided for a while. He was using the usual tricks that he did to charm girls. He hoped they would work on Lily. They were, so far.

"We should probably seal the back door. It'll give us more space," said Albus, and Lily wanted to smash her broomstick on his face. _Isn't that exactly what I just said?_

She did not resist the urge to roll her eyes as she sighed audibly, expressing her annoyance and plopped down on the sofa behind her. Everyone turned to give her questioning looks and Albus looked the most infuriated. Lily had no idea why he was being such a sodden loser all the sudden.

"And what are you sighing about?" Asked James, cocking a brow.

Scorpius hoped, for Lily's sake that she wouldn't reply mordantly. It was evident on her face that she would. _Who wouldn't after being insulted just because they're the youngest?_ He thought.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that I goddamn suggested the same thing about ten minutes ago?" She snapped.

Scorpius squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head, knowing this would raise an argument that wouldn't end anytime soon. Albus took a menacing step towards his younger sister and Rose remorsefully looked away. Even she knew there would be chaos.

"Just because you're such a know-it-all, doesn't mean that we'll listen to you without discussing other possibilities," said Albus.

"What I said was also a possibility, which you could very well have discussed instead of making me feel inferior." Lily stood up and crossed her arms across her chest confidently.

Rose and Scorpius shared a look; both knowing what was coming. Lily's pent up frustration over Albus playing pranks and acting as though her being in this world was a crime, was bound to break out someday, and that day, inevitably had arrived.

"You're inexperienced and young. We're all grownups here and we know what we're doing." Albus took a step towards her.

"When are you going to stop treating me like a child?!" She threw her arms up in exasperation, and Scorpius nearly extended forward to pull her aside, but Rose did the work for him.

She was up the moment Lily raised her voice and the chatter in the next room died down. If the parents showed up, there would be trouble.

"Lily, calm down," Rose cooed, wrapping an arm around her cousin's shoulders. Albus, fuming, was about to say something when James placed a hand on his arm and pulled him backwards.

"Stop it," he muttered sternly to Albus, who shrugged James's hold off of him irritably.

"I don't need you to control me," he mumbled, thinking that James hadn't heard him.

James, who was now starting to get annoyed, turned to face his brother. "Do not use that tone with me," he said, pointing a finger at him.

"Are you going to fight me for our dear immature sister?" Albus snarled. Scorpius rolled his eyes disconcertedly.

"Excuse me?" Lily pushed Rose aside and stepped towards Albus and James. "I'm sick and tired of you labelling me as immature and childish when I haven't done anything wrong!"

That was when Ginny's voice boomed in from the entrance of the drawing room as she marched in angrily, followed by the rest of the adults.

"What is going on here?" She demanded, shooting disapproving glares in the direction of her children.

"Your lovely daughter is being her infuriating self again," Albus snapped and immediately regretted his words, for Harry's expression had suddenly changed to that of anger. But before he could say a word, Lily had jumped in furiously.

"What in Merlin's name is your problem?!" She shouted, tears brimming her eyes.

Lily didn't know why her brother was being this hostile towards her. Sure, they had their disagreements and had never been as close as siblings usually were, but they had never had such a fight.

"Did I do something for you to hate me this much?" She insisted.

Ginny was about to restrain her daughter when Harry caught her arm and stopped her, silently telling her that he wanted to see what Albus would say. The rest of them stood there quietly as Lily and Albus continued to shoot daggers in one another's direction.

"I don't know, maybe because you and James are mum and dad's favourites?" Shot Albus. "Maybe because your know-it-all, goody two shoes attitude, and you being the most obedient and well-behaved child in the entire world is enough reason!"

Ginny and Harry were taken aback. The room went completely silent, eliciting no response from Lily either. She stood there, perplexed, wondering as to how the argument had led to that. Did Albus really loathe her so much thinking that she was the favoured child? Her eyes were now burning and Lily did not know what to say to that. She sucked in a breath and stole an inevitable glance at Scorpius who was staring down at the rug as though it would solve all his problems. Lily averted her eyes and gazed directly at Albus.

"If you must know, Albus, mum and dad never made me or James feel as though we were favoured over you," she said softly as she could, struggling to push back her tears. "And I never believed that that would be the case. Don't blame your insecurities on me, or mum, or dad." She stood right in front of him as she stared at him through her moistened eyes. "I'd never make you feel that way. I couldn't hate you the way you hate me even if my life depended on it," she whispered.

With that, Lily turned around and stormed out to go to her room. She slammed the door behind her and threw herself on the bed as she broke out in a sob, burying her face as deep as she could into the pillow. She barely heard the door creaking open softly and Rose entering inside. Solemnly, Rose sat beside Lily on the bed with caution. She hesitantly raised a hand to place it on that of Lily's, who stiffened immediately but didn't look up. Her sobs faded as Rose gently gripped Lily's fingers into that of hers.

Lily was thankful that Rose was silent. She didn't need to be told off for being rude or even given any advice to help her get through. She could handle herself, and only needed a bit of time. When she gathered up the courage to sit up, Lily's puffy red eyes did not go unnoticed by her cousin. But before Rose could pull Lily into an embrace, there was a knock on the door and George's head popped in.

"May I?" He asked, a small smile playing on his lips.

Lily nodded; sniffing and wiping her face clean of the tears. George sat beside Lily and ruffled her already messed up hair.

"You okay there, kiddo?" He asked, and Lily gave a slight nod.

"He doesn't hate you, you know," said George after wiping the remaining tears off of Lily's face.

She scoffed.

"He really doesn't," Rose said.

"He just told me that he does!" Lily exclaimed incredulously.

"That's just his anger towards Harry and Ginny," said George. "It is wrong. I don't know why he feels as though they don't love him enough. Maybe it's because he thinks that him being a Slytherin makes you and James their favourites, but that's not the case. And that is what they're telling him right now, your mum and dad. But he's your brother, he loves you. Had he not felt protective towards you, he'd never have asked Malfoy to keep his distance from you..."

Lily's head snapped up to her uncle at that, and George merely smirked while Rose tried to conceal her laughter with a cough. Lily looked between the two of them in shock.

"What are you—?"

"Rose might have mentioned that you two fancy each other," said George, rather smugly, as though he knew before Rose had told him.

"What?!" Lily's eyes widened as much as they possibly could. Rose gave her a sheepish look and turned to George for help.

"To be honest, I was quite certain it would happen. That boy can barely take his eyes off of you. Why else do you think James warned him off as well?" George said.

"What?" Lily scoffed. "James is silly. He just...he just did it because he _thought_ that Scorpius fancied me, which, he doesn't, by the way—"

"You're really thick in such matters, Lily," Rose remarked.

"I've got enough girls waiting to buy love potions for Malfoy. Do you want me to sell 'em?" George cocked a brow mischievously.

"No! Yes! What...?" Lily buried her face in her palms while George and Rose laughed heartily.

"Don't worry, kiddo," he said. "Rose and I won't tell anyone."

"How am I supposed to believe that when she told you?" Lily cried.

"He had a hint already!" Rose protested. "He forced it out of me."

 _Uncle George would definitely do something like that,_ Lily mused.

"Alright, fine. But just keep this to yourselves, please. I don't want another sibling fight during Christmas," said Lily.

It was a while until Lily found the courage to leave her room after she had cleaned up. She pulled her hair into a loose braid on her shoulder when she had washed her face, and left the room to go down since it was time for lunch. She bumped into Ginny on the way, who said that everything had been sorted but Albus and Lily were not to be in the same room alone until they had learned how to behave in each other's presence. The pair proceeded to the dining room thereafter, where everyone else was already present, and Hermione was serving the lunch with Rose's help.

Lily took her seat next to Victoire, who was abnormally quiet after witnessing the events of that day. Lily spotted Albus seated at the far corner of the table where they wouldn't be able to see each other unless they leaned forward and craned their necks. Her eyes settled on Scorpius who was right opposite to her (she hadn't noticed until now), she shifted in her seat nervously. What must he think of her now? Did he think that she was as immature and childish as Albus claimed her to be? Did he feel as though she was a goody two shoes and too stuck up for her own self? Lily hated those thoughts for brimming about in her mind, because there was no way of finding out what he felt until their flying lesson that night.

Perhaps he wouldn't want to teach her now since he'd seen how she was when she lost her temper. Would he still want to help her in trying for a Chaser? Lily wondered when those thoughts would leave her. Shaking her head, she decided to concentrate on lunch for the next hour. The table had emerged into its usual chatter, excluding that of Lily, Albus and Scorpius. The rest of them were acting as though nothing had happened. It was only a sibling quarrel after all, why would they be bothered so?

Lily decided to go up to the terrace along with her book to get some peace after lunch. Nobody had stopped her to help with the Christmas preparations since they all knew that she needed a break. She basked in the afternoon sun shining upon the snow covering the entire terrace. Lily found a clean spot to sit and did so, as she comfortably rested her back on the wall behind and opened her book. A few minutes into her reading, the open door welcomed another guest.

Lily looked up to find Scorpius carrying Christmas lights in his hands. He looked at her and gave a smile. All his plans of charming her as he did other girls had gone down the drain. He couldn't use his old tricks to allure someone as intense a person as Lily. Albus had called her immature, but Scorpius knew that she was more mature than any of the boys. She could have thrown a fit over how childish Albus was, but all she had done was prove that she wouldn't have hated her brother ever. Scorpius admired how she had controlled herself when there was enough ammunition to have her explode.

He simply wanted to be there for her and let her know that she wasn't considered childish by him. That was the least he could do for her.

"Quite cosy up here, are we?" He remarked, squinting his eyes as he treaded over to her.

Lily returned the smile.

"The cosiest ever," she answered as he stood close, towering over her curled up figure.

Promptly, he took a seat next to her, which, to Lily's heart was a cue to start racing since his arm was pressed up comfortably against her. There wasn't enough space for the both of them to fit into that tiny, snow-free spot. Lily had barely any opportunity for movement. The warmth seeping through his jumper into that of hers was distressing as well as welcoming, and Lily didn't know what she could do. Get up and miss his touch, or sit there and enjoy it as long as it lasts?

She resorted to another, safer option. "Don't you have to put those lights on the roof?" She asked.

Scorpius nodded, letting his head fall back onto the wall next to that of Lily's.

"I just wanted to escape the chaos down there so I offered to bring these up," he said, lifting the roll of lights on wrapped around his arm. "I can do that whenever I want to. Nobody would even notice my absence."

 _Enjoy the warmth it is,_ she thought happily.

"What about Albus and James? They'd wonder where you are."

"Your mum sent them to get Butterbeers for tomorrow," said Scorpius, clearing a little space beside him and placing the lights there. "And said to bring Albus back after he had cooled down a little. James has been instructed to give his little brother some advice. I have a lot of time on my hands." He winked.

Lily felt her cheeks warm up as she inadvertently shut her book and decided that it was time to get to know Scorpius Malfoy a little more.

"So what are we going to do to pass your time?" She offered.

Scorpius leaned forward close to her ear and whispered, "Anything you want."

If there was any more scope for her cheeks to go redden, she'd be surprised.

"Do you think I was too childish this morning?" She cautiously asked, keeping her eyes focussed onto her fingers sitting restlessly on the book.

Scorpius sighed. "You behaved better than anyone would have expected."

Lily snapped her head towards him. "Really?"

Scorpius wanted to laugh at the genuine surprise on her face. She was too insecure around him for her own good.

"Yes, Lily," he comforted. "You did nothing wrong." He placed his hand on hers and Lily's mind was now stuck on how right it felt to have him beside her, holding her hand so soothingly, as though it would take all of her worries away.

"Thank you," she whispered. Scorpius smiled.

"So, what does Lily Luna Potter like aside from reading books?"

Lily chuckled. Did he really wish to know her? She wasn't one to object.

"Firewhisky," she answered without a pause.

Scorpius's eyes widened. "Are you telling me that you've broken a rule?" He asked, impressed.

Lily shrugged. "Mum and dad were out one night. James and Albus were busy flying and I was alone. I wanted to do something adventurous so I nicked a bottle of Firewhisky from Dad's cupboard and took a sip. It tasted horrible in the beginning because it burned my throat but I liked it after a few more tries."

"That is quite rebellious for someone like you, Lily," he remarked. "I have to say I'm amazed."

"It's not that big of a deal." Lily rolled her eyes.

"It is for a girl who barely does anything apart from reading and scoring well in exams."

"Hey, there's a lot more to me than that."

"That's what I'm here to find out."

"We've got plenty of time." Lily smiled.

She loved talking to Scorpius. She loved it so much that she was ready to sacrifice Firewhisky if it meant spending time with him. Lately it had become quite simple a task to be with him, and Lily was surprisingly more carefree and jovial when they were alone. He had so easily taken her mind off of the painful thoughts of that morning; it astounded Lily, and she felt ecstatic.

"I have a confession to make," said Lily suddenly, and for the first time, Scorpius's heartbeat accelerated tenfold.


	8. Chapter 8

_**A/N: Please ignore any mistakes since the chapter hasn't been edited. I wrote it in a hurry, but I hope it's up to the mark. Thank you :) Happy Reading!**_

 **Chapter 8**

Scorpius and Lily had spent a lot of time under the sun, amid the snow covered terrace that was providing a comfortable seat for the two of them together. Lily had long forgotten the book that she was reading and they had both gotten busy in chatting and getting to know each other more. It was surprising how many things the pair had found in a couple hours. They had both had a great time, and had headed downstairs when Rose had come to tell them that everyone was looking for them. Scorpius had immediately put up the lights with Rose and Lily's help before the three of them left to go.

Lily's indication that she had to confess something had made Scorpius's thoughts go every possible place they could. He had been unable to utter a word thinking of the prospect of Lily telling him how she felt about him. How would he react? Would he tell her that he fancied her too? Would they be going out? Was she going to kiss him? It disappointed him when he heard what she really had to say, but it wasn't completely bad. What she said was quite amusing.

"I was the one who told Filch that you and Albus were planning to set off fireworks in the Herbology class last year," she had told him.

Scorpius had only laughed. "I knew that," he said.

"You did? H–how did you—?"

"Alb and I intended for you to hear it. If you remember, that very day we locked three stuck up Ravenclaw girls in the broom cupboard."

"What did that have to do with—?"

"It was so we could distract Filch. Those girls had sucked up to him and he was making sure we didn't do anything to make them cry again. So we set it up for you to hear about our Herbology prank that we weren't going to carry out anyway, and then locked the girls after Filch was distracted."

"You guys are evil," Lily muttered, and Scorpius shrugged before the two chuckled softly.

It was a while until Rose showed up and they left to go downstairs. The moment they reached, Ginny and Hermione had handed them endless tasks, which got them busy enough not to be able to look at each other even once. There was a buzz around the house that was only witnessed during times of celebration. Lily began to get excited as she wrote names on all the presents that Ginny was handing to her hurriedly. Christmas had always been such a great time for all of them, and Lily was sure it would be this time too, despite the fact that she and Albus weren't going to talk much.

In all honesty, Lily didn't mind because the rest of the family more than made up for all the sadness and fury hovering around. Her closeness with Scorpius was another plus point that she absolutely adored, and wished that nothing crushed the bond between them. Everything was going great.

Towards dinner, the clutter and chatter had only increased, and by the time Lily fell on the bed, she was far more exhausted than she had ever been. She didn't know if she'd be able to go for her flying lesson that night. She wondered if she would even be able to get up off the bed and tell Scorpius that she wouldn't make it. She kept telling herself that she should stand up and go to Scorpius and let him know.

 _Get up ... tell Scorpius ... lesson ... flying Quidditch ... Scorpius ... Can't go..._

Her eyes fluttered shut and she fell into a dreamless sleep. It seemed as though only minutes had passed when she was shaken up. Lily muttered something incoherent and turned her head around, squeezing her eyes shut and mindlessly hoping whoever it was would go away. But her prayers weren't answered. She was shaken again and Lily awoke begrudgingly to find Rose's figure towering over her sleeping self.

"What do you want?" She groaned, rubbing her eyes.

"Scorpius is asking for you," Rose murmured. "Get up." She pulled Lily up to sitting.

Lily's eyes shot wide open and she mentally hit herself for not having told Scorpius that she wasn't going to be able to practice tonight. She cursed herself and reluctantly dragged herself out of the inviting bed. Scorpius was at her door and Lily suddenly became aware of her appearance. Her hair was disarray and she quite possibly had drool running down but when she touched her chin, there was no trace of the same. Thanking her stars, Lily hurriedly brushed her hair hoping it didn't look as bad as it did in the mornings. Merlin only knew what Scorpius would think if he saw her in a drowsy, frenzied state.

"You alright there?" Asked Scorpius, snapping Lily out of her daze.

She was busy marvelling at how gorgeous the boy managed to look, leaning over the doorway with his hands casually folded across his chest.

"Uhm... I forgot to tell you," she muttered sheepishly. "I don't really feel up to it tonight."

Scorpius watched as Lily nervously tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear as she usually did whenever he was around.

"I was hoping we'd try some attacking techniques tonight, but if you're that tired..." he trailed off with a sigh and Lily's eyes twinkled with excitement, all her previous exhaustion disappearing.

"Well, goodnight then," said Scorpius and began to leave when Lily called out his name rather squeakily, which earned an incredulous glare from Rose, who was busy reading.

Scorpius smirked at her delightfulness and turned around as he stopped midway.

"I'll be out in five," she said hastily and he gave a nod before disappearing down the stairs.

Lily let out a sigh, running a hand through her hair and pulling it up into a bun on top of her head.

"You really give it away, don't you?" muttered Rose smugly as Lily fumbled around looking for her boots.

"What?" She asked distractedly, rattling her drawers. She was on the floor, looking under the bed and extending her arm to grab her boots when Rose said, "It's written all over your face that you fancy him. I'm surprised as to how the entire family hasn't noticed until now."

Lily grumbled something as she furiously pulled on the boots and gave Rose an eye-roll. "You're exaggerating it," she mumbled, grabbing her broom and walking towards the door.

"Goodnight, dear cousin," Rose said, smirking and Lily returned the gesture before bolting out of the room softly as she could, to go out to the yard where Scorpius was waiting for her.

She stumbled on the steps leading to the yard and caught herself, gripping the railing on the side. Lily didn't know why she had suddenly become so clumsy. _He's doing insane things to my brain,_ she said to herself. But in reality it was only the fact that she had awoken with a start mere minutes ago. She took a deep breath with closed eyes and then opened them to find that her vision was now steadier than before. By the time she reached to where Scorpius was standing, examining his broom, Lily was fully awake.

"Awake enough, sunshine?" he asked with a smirk.

"Quite well," she answered, rolling her eyes.

"Let's go," he said and they mounted their brooms, reaching up to their usual height.

"Attacks will come from different sides during the match," said Scorpius. "Right now it's only me, and there aren't even any Bludgers that would knock you down, but I'll try to make it as real as it can get. I will attack you as a Bludger would, out of nowhere, and you have to dodge me... Ready?"

Lily nodded in response and the two of them flew away into the moonlit sky, Scorpius vanishing suddenly and rushing towards Lily in full speed, as though he was going to crash into her, and Lily swerved to her right, circling him as he whooshed past her. A moment later he had disappeared again and Lily cautiously looked around as she flew forward. She was greeted with him flying straight in her direction, and had she not dived under his broom, they would've ended up injuring each other. But then, Lily told herself, Bludgers would attack the same way.

Scorpius was gone again and Lily kept a close watch around her to make sure he didn't crash into her. She kept her concentration steady and dodged another attack from him, after which, he flew beside her and they returned to the yard.

"That was good, but your focus isn't just the attacks, it is also to lead the Quaffle into the goal hoops," he said as Lily attempted to catch her breath.

The euphoria that she experienced while flying was something that could never be defined.

"For now we'll keep practicing the attacks and in the next lesson we'll figure out what to do about the Quaffle and goal hoops."

Lily nodded in response and they took off again, swirling about amid the foggy sky that was sending wisps of chilly wind in their direction, enough to freeze them to their cores but Lily was so busy dodging Scorpius's attacks and enjoying flying that she barely registered the frosty sensation seeping in through her skin.

She was grinning as she veered above Scorpius's broomstick that had just missed her foot (it would have knocked her down) when a stream of red light steered towards her from a distance and had her tumbling down towards the ground furiously. She vaguely heard Scorpius's cry of fear as she spiralled down, whirled along with the circling wind... nearing the ground as it got dangerously closer and closer... the dip in her belly intensifying as pain shot up from her chest and towards her head.

Her ears deafened due to the wind swishing around her loudly... eyes burned as the ground grew closer yet, and she heard a yell of 'Arresto Momentum' before she hit the floor in a soft thud atop the snow.

Scorpius was at her side immediately as he hauled her into his arms and hugged her close to his chest, whispering as to know if she was alright. Lily felt his heart hammering inside his chest frantically as she breathed softly, wilted in his arms.

"Are you alright?" Scorpius asked as he gently held her face in his palms.

Lily, whose eyes held a blurry vision, managed a nod as she attempted to steady her breathing.

"Let's go home," he murmured and Lily faintly heard him say something about it all being his fault as he stood up with her body cradled in his arms protectively. She noticed that they were far from home and in a forest of sorts since she saw looming trees surrounding her and the crunching of leaves as Scorpius walked.

He muttered something about having to Apparate, and Lily felt herself being clutched tighter in his arms as the trees spun around her, she felt as though she was falling into a deep pit. Another spinning sensation and the forest was replaced by the yard of the Potters' cottage. Lily snuggled into Scorpius's chest as he carried her into the house softly so as not to wake anyone. When he reached Lily's room, he placed her onto the bed and saw as she fell asleep in moments after he had covered her with the blanket.

Scorpius decided to discuss the events of the night tomorrow, and unable to resist the urge, he bent forward and placed a kiss on Lily's forehead before shuffling out of the room, shutting the door behind him. He calmed his hammering heart by resting his back on the wall beside Lily's door, and hoped, for the life of him, that what happened wasn't done by whom he thought it had.

Scorpius spent the rest of the night tossing and turning as he struggled to contemplate if what he thought was true, the coming days held turmoil. He hoped that it had all been a nightmare, and shut his eyes tighter as he could, but when he awoke on Christmas Eve and saw Lily's unusually worn out visage at breakfast, he began to wish that the others didn't notice her pale features.

His hopes were shattered when Rose cornered him after breakfast and demanded to know why Lily had a pain in her abdomen that she couldn't remember the cause of. Scorpius's heart began to race and he didn't know what to tell her. He fumbled around, running a hand through his hair nervously and clearing his throat as Rose glared down at him.

"Something happened last night," he said, knowing that telling the truth was the only way to face what would be coming.

"What happened?" It was Lily who asked this as she entered the kitchen where nobody apart from the three of them was present.

"You were attacked," Scorpius managed fearfully.

He had never been this afraid in his life. He was scared that it would happen again and he couldn't imagine the plight if Lily was harmed in any way. The thought itself was terrifying.

"Yes, we were flying and I was dodging your attacks," said Lily dubiously and Rose stared between the two of them quizzically.

"No, someone else attacked you," said Scorpius. "It wasn't part of your lesson, Lily."

Lily stiffened upon noticing the seriousness on his face and suddenly something flashed into her mind that had her legs wobbling. She held onto the shelf to her left, for support. She saw a vision of her flail body tumbling downwards and falling into Scorpius's arms. She then realized why her broom looked as though it had been damaged, this morning.

"What was that?" She managed in a whisper, looking at Scorpius dreadfully as pain seared through her belly and vanished just as quickly.

"You were stunned."

"You mean someone purposefully attacked me?"

Scorpius nodded glumly and Rose's eyes widened.

"Why would anyone attack Lily?" She asked.

"I don't know," he mumbled. "I have a hunch, but I'm not very sure of it."

"I'm going to call Uncle George," Rose said and bolted out of the kitchen.

Scorpius looked at Lily questioningly.

"He knows we have midnight flying lessons," she cleared his doubts. "He figured it out. I don't know how."

Before Scorpius could reply, Rose had rushed back in with George and shut the door of the kitchen.

"What's wrong?" George enquired.

"Well, you know that Lily is taking flying lessons with Scorpius, right?" said Rose. George nodded and a smug smile took over his face.

"He says she was attacked by someone while they were flying."

George's smile vanished just as soon as it had appeared. "Attacked?" He asked, clearly shocked since there had been no record of serious attacks after the end of Voldemort.

"Do you know who it was?" He asked when Scorpius nodded.

"I have a doubt," he said. Scorpius then took a deep breath and dreaded every word that he was about to say.

"Dad mentioned about this once a couple years ago," he began. "You know about Bellatrix Lestrange?" The three of them nodded, George being hit with the memory of his mother killing the Death Eater for having attacked Ginny.

"She had a son, who went to Durmstrang, and he came back only two years ago. Dad met him, and said that he indicated to dad that there was some unfinished business he had before he returned to Bulgaria. The unfinished business of looking for the one who killed his mother... his name is Mizar Lestrange."


	9. Chapter 9

_**A/N: Thank you all so much for the reviews. They're really encouraging so please keep them coming :) Thank you. Happy Reading!**_

 **Disclaimer: None of the characters belong to me, they are solely owned by J.K. Rowling. The story, however, is a product of my imagination and any resemblance to another fanfic is purely co-incidental.**

 **Chapter 9**

Lily spent the rest of the day helping with the preparations and distracting herself from what Scorpius had revealed that morning. She could barely get it out of her head that there might be a threat coming up to spoil things for them. Hadn't the family had enough during the reign of Voldemort? They didn't need another dark wizard trying to have their normal, happy lives turning to that of threatening. The effects of her having been Stunned were fading away slowly, and nobody really noticed her discomfort apart from Rose who was trying to keep Lily occupied so people wouldn't bother her and then find out that something was wrong.

Scorpius was with Albus, keeping his distance from Lily since he thought that the nearer he was to her, the more threatened she would be. If Mizar Lestrange found out that Scorpius had any kind of close relations with the Potters and the Weasleys, there would be relentless chaos that nobody would be able to escape. Scorpius was even considering going back to Malfoy Manor, regardless of the fact that he was supposed to spend Christmas with the Potters. He could come up with some lie to feed them and then leave, and talk to his father about these events.

He didn't wish to put his best friend's family in danger. But, as Rose had pointed out to him that morning, keeping his distance wouldn't stop Mizar from attacking them. Molly Weasley was the one who had killed Bellatrix, and Mizar had every reason to attack the family if he wished to. But Scorpius wanted to speak to his father at least once and be able to make sure if what he thought was true. So he had written a letter to clear his doubts and sent it that very morning. Scorpius eagerly awaited Draco's response.

Albus had quite forgotten about his fight with Lily but he was still keeping aloof from her, just so another one wouldn't ensue. He had asked Scorpius to accompany him wherever he went, the reason of which, as Scorpius figured was that he didn't want to find himself alone with Lily somewhere. Scorpius didn't mind helping Albus around the house since it kept him away from Lily. He didn't need to drag her into this; she didn't need to be harmed.

And after the events of last night, he was always worried that some other attack might happen on her, and the thought of it was making him shiver. He had decided to stop the Quidditch lessons for now, even though Lily was doing very well and he knew that she would quite possibly be able to be a part of the Gryffindor team. But the odds of her being attacked again were higher now that it had happened once. And Scorpius didn't know for how long they'd be able to hide their late night lessons from the family. Besides, it was Christmas Eve and for the next two days there would be no time for flying lessons anyway. Scorpius hoped that he would receive a response from Draco in the meantime.

If Draco confirmed Scorpius's suspicions, then the family had to be warned. Ron and Harry would find out anyway through the Ministry since they were both Aurors. It was better to warn them beforehand so they could prepare. For that, they had to know about the lessons anyway. Scorpius was worried that they wouldn't take it well, but he knew that the only people who would oppose were James and Albus. The rest of the family seemed to have warmed up to him otherwise.

For now, Scorpius decided to enjoy Christmas, as George had asked him to. The possible Dark Wizard could be taken care of later on. When the preparations were done and it was time for dinner, the family gathered in the extended dining room where all the Christmas Eve delicacies were proudly settled on the large table. They were all awaiting the Christmas feast that would happen the next day, but the ham, fish and apple pie amongst other mouth-watering things was enough to have them all get busy eating instead of chattering like they usually did.

Scorpius found himself sitting opposite to Lily and when she gave him a smile, he promptly turned away, cursing himself for ignoring her this way. She didn't deserve this treatment, but what was he to do? To him, it was his entire fault that Lily had suffered the previous night that way. She didn't need more of that in her life; she didn't need more of _him_ , if danger was all he was going to carry along.

Dinner was a lively affair as everyone talked about how they were enjoying being together that Christmas and that everything had turned out great, except for one or two conflicts, but they could be overlooked.

"We've had worse," commented Ron, chuckling as he reminisced the days when he, Hermione and Harry had spent their Christmas days planning on how to deal with Voldemort.

When dinner was over, Scorpius left the dining room as fast as he could to get away from Lily who was mildly shocked and mostly hurt wondering as to why Scorpius was avoiding her. She had later decided to let it go as she helped in cleaning up while George, James, Scorpius and Albus left to and play some games in the sitting room.

"Do you think this Lestrange kid is going to mean trouble?" asked Rose as she and Lily wiped the table.

"Stunning me for no reason was enough to tell us that he will be trouble," Lily whispered back.

"I mean, would he want to attack Grandma?" a worried expression took over Rose's features and Lily let out a sigh.

"I don't know, Rose," she said. "But I'm sure dad and Uncle Ron will figure something out. They're Aurors after all. It's their job."

Rose gave a solemn nod. It was bad enough Molly Weasley was old and had Alzheimer's. Having a Dark Wizard on her tail to avenge the death of his mother was even worse a problem to deal with. Nobody needed that in their lives.

"Hey," said Lily, grabbing Rose's hand. "I'm sure it'll be alright. You don't worry."

Rose smiled and they continued cleaning the table, after which they decided to go and sit outside in the yard with the women. Victoire had resumed her chatter about Teddy arriving soon. She was busy gushing about how much she had missed him and that he would surely have gotten her a great Christmas present.

Teddy, who had been in Romania with Charlie Weasley and Hugo (Hermione's son), was going to arrive tonight. Hugo had decided to stay with his Uncle Charlie and learn more about dragons. Teddy and Victoire had been going out since they were in school and were still quite in love. Fluer — Victoire's — mother, adored the two of them together and wished that they would get married. Teddy had expressed the desire to his godfather, Harry, once a couple months ago that he wanted to propose to Victoire. Harry and Ginny thought that it was a wonderful idea, and Teddy had planned to do it during Christmas.

An hour later when he walked through the gate of the yard, Lily and Rose fondly chuckled at how Victoire squealed like a little girl and ran up to Teddy to kiss him. Even though Victoire was a bit of an annoyance to everyone, the relationship between her and Teddy was adored by everyone since they looked absolutely perfect together. The family always wished well for the both of them.

The women followed Teddy into the house after he had greeted them. Victoire was barely ever an inch away from him when he was hugging everyone, and Lily couldn't help but smile at how delightful the couple was. When they went into the sitting room Albus and George were playing chess while the rest of them were joking and drinking. Harry immediately got up and greeted his godson, followed by the rest of them. Teddy was introduced to Scorpius, who didn't take time in warming up to the former since he was quite the charming lad.

The rest of the night was spent in catching up with what was going on in Teddy's life while an unusually quiet Victoire could barely take her eyes off of her boyfriend. Towards midnight, they all bid goodnight to each other and retreated to their respective rooms, Teddy joining Victoire in her assigned room while the others took their own. Lily wondered if her and Scorpius would share a room someday, and flushed deep red the next moment as she mentally cursed herself for having thought of something like that. She didn't know that at that very moment, Scorpius had had a similar thought.

Lily wanted to say goodnight to him but he disappeared into his room so suddenly that she didn't even get a glance at him. Dejected, she entered her room and sat upon the bed across from Rose who was sorting out her clothes for the next day.

"You alright?" asked Rose since Lily was sat there staring silently into space.

"Fine," Lily muttered distractedly.

"He's avoiding you, isn't he?"

Lily snapped her head up to look at Rose. "How in Merlin's name do you know these things?" She asked incredulously.

"You forget that I'm the daughter of Hermione Granger," Rose smirked. "He indicated in the morning that he was going to stay away from you if it meant keeping you safe," she said later, settling on the bed comfortably.

Lily rolled her eyes.

"As if him being away from me is going to stop some Dark Wizard from attacking again."

"That's what I told him."

"Why are boys so dim-witted?" Lily groaned. Rose chuckled as she lay down.

"They are, aren't they? It's annoying really," said Rose, sighing.

"How come you haven't found your share of annoyance yet?" Lily enquired curiously.

Rose had only had one boyfriend so far– a boy from Ravenclaw but he was too boring and she had let him go after a while. Lily hadn't heard of another boy whom Rose possibly fancied or whom she had given an affirmative to upon being asked out.

"Well, I thought I fancied someone but I'm not very sure of it now," Rose answered.

Lily's eyebrows shot up. "Why didn't you tell me? Who is he?"

"Arion Brown," Rose muttered.

"The spectacled Hufflepuff?"

Rose nodded.

"He's clueless, actually. I even tried to befriend him but people are so mean to him he thought I was making fun of him."

"Wow, I never knew you'd go for a Hufflepuff." Lily smiled.

Rose shrugged. "I find him interesting. Nobody talks to him and he doesn't speak much in class but he's quite smart. He's friends with umm... I think Lysander? Yeah, that scrawny attractive Scamander boy that you should've been with."

"I thought you wanted me to be with Scorpius!" Lily incredulously looked at her cousin who burst out laughing.

"I do," she said, chuckling. "But he did ask you out, remember? And he was quite a good catch. You turned him down because of Malfoy."

"You know what," grumbled Lily. "If Scorpius doesn't act soon, I might just ask Lysander out once we get back to school. Merlin knows I need to move on from that fool anyway."

Rose raised her eyebrows, surprised. "Really? You'd give up on Malfoy so easily?"

Lily sighed remorsefully. "You know I won't. He's a pain in the arse dimwit but I'd still be waiting for him unless he falls in love with someone else and gets married to her."

Despairingly, she fell onto her pillows and huffed out a breath.

"Go to sleep, Lil," murmured Rose drowsily. "You never know, something might happen tomorrow. Christmas brings surprises."

When Lily turned to her side to reply, Rose had already shut her eyes and dozed off. Smiling softly, and almost... almost believing what her cousin had said, Lily fell into a slumber as she mumbled a goodnight.

The next morning, Lily woke up grinning. There was a chatter coming from downstairs and the sun had only risen when her eyes opened to snowfall outside of the window. Sunlight was streaming in; dancing amid the clouds as Lily hurriedly took a shower and dressed into her favourite clothing. It was a frilly red dress, reaching up to her knees and rippling beside her legs when she moved. She put on a brown leather jacket on it along with her boots, and descended downstairs along with a beaming Rose.

Everyone was excited and the happiness milling around was noticeable. Lily stopped in her tracks when her eyes fell on Scorpius who was laughing with Albus and James over something. He was dressed in a pair of washed jeans and a white shirt that he had carelessly left loose instead of tucking it in. A dark blue coat rested fitted on his shoulders and his hair (that he always left messy) was combed back and it only made him look more attractive than ever. Lily couldn't take his eyes off of him until Rose had nudged her in the shoulder.

When they all sat down to open presents, Scorpius's eyes trailed around and stopped on Lily who was sitting across from him. Albus was talking something about wanting a new broom when Lily smiled as she opened the present given to her by George. Scorpius couldn't stop himself from thinking how radiant she looked that morning, and how childlike her expression was as she held up the new Cleansweep Eleven, gleaming before she squealed and gave her Uncle George a tight hug.

Scorpius smiled a soft one, seeing how much encouragement she was getting from those who knew about her passion for becoming a Chaser. Albus muttered something about it being unfair as he unwrapped his own presents. That morning, an owl had arrived carrying his presents from Malfoy Manor, and a letter enclosed along with his box of chocolates. He had discreetly hidden the letter in his coat pocket and decided to open it later, thinking he didn't wish to spoil Christmas morning if the letter held bad news.

What he didn't know, or was dodging the subject about, was the fact that only hours letter when he opens the letter and reads its contents, all his suspicions would be confirmed.


	10. Chapter 10

_**A/N: Apologies if the chapter is short. I'm not particularly satisfied with this one as such, but I just felt as though the ending was perfect and didn't need to be disrupted by anything else. Do point out mistakes, if any. And keep the reviews coming. Thank you! Happy Reading :)**_

 **Chapter 10**

 _Dear Scorpius,_

 _This is in response to the letter that you sent to me, asking if Mizar Lestrange is planning to avenge the death of my aunt, and his mother, Bellatrix Lestrange. I deeply regret to inform you that it is true. He has returned and is gathering his own army to secretly destroy the Potter and the Weasley families. My sources have confirmed his return, and the fact that he means trouble. If any other attacks were to happen, I suggest you return to Malfoy Manor since it isn't safe for you to be there._

 _Knowing that you are related to the Potters in any way will only aggravate him more, and he will also target our family. I do not wish to put you and your mother in any trouble. Make no mistake. Mizar Lestrange is a dangerous man. He will leave no stone unturned in avenging his mother's death, since he was brought up as the son of a Death Eater and still holds his devotion to the Dark Lord. Let the families know of this threat and either return to Malfoy Manor, or Hogwarts as soon as possible._

 _P.S Your mother sends her love._

 _Your father,_

 _Draco Malfoy._

Scorpius hadn't stopped thinking about the letter since that morning, and hard as he tried to distract himself, he just couldn't get it out of his head. The Potters and Weasleys were in threat, and more so, to his grief, Lily. He didn't know whether he would be able to protect her from harm on his own, and needed to inform the other members of the family so they could keep themselves safe. And for that, he had to tell them about their secret flying lessons. Scorpius did not wish to spoil Christmas day for them, and decided to put it off until the next morning.

And he hoped that nothing would happen before he had told them of his uncle Mizar. Returning to Malfoy Manor was not an option, Scorpius had ruled it out since he could not leave Lily here unsafe and go hide in the shelter of his home. It was the worst kind of thing he could do to his best friend and his family. Neither Albus, nor Lily, nor James and their family deserved this kind of discomfort in their lives. And they certainly did not have to face this alone. If need be, he would convince his father and the rest of the family to support him in helping the Potters.

Scorpius spent the day with the two families who seemed happier than he had ever seen them. Everything was going great and he hated to be the bearer of bad news, but there was no choice. Sooner or later, Harry and Ron would find out for themselves through the Ministry, but if Mizar Lestrange was planning to attack them secretly, it was all the more necessary to inform them beforehand. But for now, as Scorpius watched Lily's beaming face before him, he decided to put off all of his worries. Christmas was a time of joy, and nothing and no one was going to spoil it for them.

They were in the sitting room, playing all sorts of games and admiring the Christmas tree that Lily and Rose had so beautifully decorated. The lights dancing around in the house were so merry that there was no scope for any sadness or threat to enter. Scorpius hoped it would stay that way until the end of the day.

Christmas day was spent in a blur of events for Lily. Everything happened so fast, the opening of presents, breakfast, games... but it was all the most fun, nevertheless. Towards the time for dinner, the excitement had only increased tenfold. By the time they all sat down for dinner, the family was starving. Looking at all the delicacies present before them on the table, they all began to pounce on the food when Hermione had to scold them and ask them to calm down.

The food was served, and Scorpius and Lily, who were afraid of having to sit next to each other someday at the table, found themselves in a similar position that evening. Scorpius could barely take his eyes off of her, and neither could Lily. The men had all dressed in suits (It was Ginny's idea to have a formal Christmas dinner) while the women wore beautiful dresses; and that of Lily's was a delight to Scorpius's eyes. Her short white dress that complimented her curves and showed off her long legs; her hair that had been neatly tied into a bun at the side of her head (courtesy Rose); her wrist encased in a silver bracelet that Victoire had given to her as a Christmas present; everything was enough to have Scorpius melt into a puddle.

To Lily, his visage wasn't any different. Dressed in a black suit, with his white shirt and black tie, eyes that gleamed under the shimmering Christmas lights around; his hair slick back, enhancing his features... from where she was stood beside him at the dinner table, Lily could notice the tiny freckles on his face that made him look all the more handsome. Rose had smugly remarked that they needed to take their eyes away from each other before anyone else noticed the obvious tension between them. Lily did nothing but blush.

When they sat down at the table — since Rose had deliberately decided to sit next to her mother and left the only empty seat for Scorpius — Lily tried her hardest to keep her eyes away from him. His arm brushed that of hers as they took their seats and there was minimal distance between them, which made Lily's heart race faster than it ever had. She had a feeling that something was going to happen that night, and hard as she tried, she couldn't shake the feeling.

She decided to concentrate instead on the food. There were so many things that Lily lost count of them all. Her favourite among it all was the roast turkey. She noticed that Scorpius had taken copious amounts of the pigs in a blanket (quite fearlessly as though he had adjusted into this new family so easily). Dinner proceeded with quite the fun and frolic and delight, but Lily could hardly gulp down that much of food. The moment she finished, her plate filled up again and she hardly had time to stop chewing.

"Perks of being in a wizard family," whispered Scorpius, leaning towards her as he noticed her discomfort at the food that refused to get over. "You have food that magically appears and doesn't get over until it knows you're full."

He chuckled at Lily's remorseful sigh. "But I am full," she whispered back as she concealed her smile.

"Your platter doesn't think so," he winked and Lily averted her eyes, stopping at James who was sitting at the far end of the table next to Harry.

He was staring a bit crossly at Scorpius and Lily didn't know what had gotten his wand in a knot. She shrugged it off and returned to finishing her food. When everyone had had enough, the table cleared itself and dessert appeared. Lily groaned, clutching her stomach.

"I can't take any more," she whimpered and the rest of them laughed.

"Happy Christmas, Lily Potter," chuckled Uncle Ron as he feasted himself with the apple pie.

Dinner ended and everyone returned to sit in the living room for some more games. Scorpius found himself sitting against James for wizard's chess. Lily's eldest brother had been shooting daggers in Scorpius's direction the moment he sat next to Lily. Scorpius didn't fail to notice the glares that he had been getting, but frankly he cared not. James was the least of his worries at the moment. There were worse things to be dealt with.

James was determined to emerge victorious against Scorpius, and tried everything he could to win. The game was getting interesting and everyone ended up as spectators instead of having fun of their own. Lily was sitting next to Rose, Victoire and Teddy as they chatted about amongst each other. Rose had been nudging Lily to go and cheer Scorpius, when Lily only glared at her cousin.

"You guys need to just accept it and move on instead of beating around the bush," commented Rose as Teddy and Victoire began snogging, to Rose's utter disgust.

"Shut it, Rose," Lily replied hastily, hoping no one had heard her.

"For your sake, I don't even mind random snogging sessions between you two if it means you'll just accept it."

Lily turned to Rose with her eyes wide as saucers and her cheeks reddening more than they ever had before.

"What is wrong with you?" She hissed and Rose let out a hearty laugh.

The mere thought of her snogging Scorpius made her go red in the face, and Lily wondered how it would feel if it were to happen in real life. She had obviously imagined kissing him, how his touch would feel...how her heart would race if his face was inches away from that of hers...but knowing that it could well happen was something beyond her limits. Lily didn't know what she would do if such a situation was to arise. Although it didn't seem so unusual seeing as to how they had been eyeing each other all day and how the prior week had been nothing but indications of them fancying one another.

"You're thinking about it, aren't you?" Rose asked, smirking.

The redness on Lily's cheeks increased and she slapped a palm on her face.

"Stop it!" She jeered, crossing her arms across her chest as she huffed.

Before Rose could retort, Harry and Ron were cheering for Scorpius who had won the game, while James scowled angrily.

"It's just a game, mate," said Scorpius rather derisively, as though he was indicating that there was nothing James could do that would deter him from Lily.

James didn't fail to notice the tone of his opponent's voice. He decided not to say anything, and stood up, announcing that he was tired and wanted to sleep. Albus, who had already dozed off on the sofa was nudged by George who asked him to go to his room, and he obeyed. The rest of them took their leave soon after, since it was an hour and a half past midnight. Rose yawned from beside Lily and the two started to leave the room that was now only occupied by Teddy and Victoire who were busy whispering things to each other (Rose didn't wish to witness anything more than snogging and strode out of the room immediately), aside from Scorpius and Lily.

Lily gave an awkward smile to Scorpius and mumbled goodnight before walking out of the sitting room, and was about to climb the stairs leading to her room when Scorpius stopped her by softly calling out her name. Heart thudding, Lily turned to face him from the stairs. He was stood next to the Christmas tree at a distance from her and beckoned her forward. Lily took hesitant steps towards him and stood at a little distance from him.

"Before I say what I'm about to," he said. "I want to wish you a happy Christmas."

Lily smiled. "Happy Christmas to you too, Scorpius."

He took a breath and then spoke, "I received a letter from dad."

Lily's breath stopped. She knew what was coming and didn't say anything.

"He confirmed my suspicions. I will talk to everyone about this tomorrow; just thought you should know before."

"Oh, well, umm...thanks," Lily muttered quietly.

"Are you okay?" He asked, taking a step forward and Lily looked up at him.

She gave a nod.

"I'm sorry for that you have to go through this," he whispered, taking her hand. Lily's eyes fixated on the rug below her feet.

"It's not your fault," she whispered back just as softly.

Scorpius sighed as he stroked his thumb on the back of Lily's slightly shivering hand.

"I just..." He took another step closer and gently rested his forehead on that of hers."I don't want anything to happen to you."

Lily's heartbeat accelerated, and she was afraid he could hear it too, seeing as how close he was standing. She could hardly breathe with his forehead lightly pressed against hers, and the sensation was just wonderful. She never wanted to step away from him. This was perfect...his hand enclosed in hers, their fingers entangled loosely, eyes gazing into one another's as they stood closer than they had ever been. Lily loved the feeling.

"Why?" she managed in a breathless whisper, as though she had dared to ask this question to him...as though she was waiting to ask him that for ages.

Scorpius didn't reply and then as he leaned closer, no space remained between them and Lily's free hand instantly shot up from her side and settled on his chest. She smiled noticing how his heart was racing just as fast as that of hers. Scorpius raised his other arm to caress her cheek and Lily let out a shaky breath at the sensation.

"This is why," he whispered and before Lily could contemplate what was happening, his lips descended onto hers, and they spoke no more.

The mistletoe conjuring itself above their heads seemed to be smiling.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Lily had never felt as much ecstasy as she did when she kissed Scorpius. All perfectly manoeuvred moves of how she would react if he was to kiss her had flown out of her mind like a Quaffle would swish into the goal hoops in full speed. Her eyes had fluttered shut almost immediately, her racing heart began to run even faster, her fingers that had been entwined into that of Scorpius's, found themselves entangled into his hair when his hands wrapped around her waist tightly. Lily could only tell her heart to be still, she could only wish that time would freeze and that this moment would never end.

She stood on her tiptoes when he gripped her waist even tighter and her entire body was pressed to that of his. Lily had kissed once or twice before, but none of them compared to the sensations that Scorpius was making her feel. The tingles running down her spine and the feeling of having Scorpius so close to her was something she had never experienced before. She nearly groaned in disappointment when his lips detached from those of hers. But the sight of Scorpius grinning made her feel all the better. Lily's uneven breath slowed down as her hands rested on his chest.

"Merry Christmas, Lily," Scorpius whispered and Lily mirrored his grin, the blush on her cheeks intact.

"Merry Christmas," she whispered back, loosening her hold on him as he did on her.

Scorpius ran a hand through his hair, smiling as he could still feel her delicate fingers dancing through his strands. He suddenly felt glad he had used a good shampoo that morning, and immediately scolded himself for having thought of something so silly.

"We'll umm...meet for the flying lesson tomorrow, then?" He asked in a husky voice, catching his breath. It made Lily feel strange things all in itself. She gave a nod, unable to answer.

"I sh-should g-go back to my room," she muttered, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Of course," he said, just as nervous. Lily felt a bit at ease seeing that he was just as uncomfortable as her. "Uh, goodnight."

Lily began to walk towards the stairs. "Goodnight," she said softly and turned around, her cheeks still blazing as she slowly trudged up the stairs.

"Lily?" He called out quietly and she turned around silently.

"Will you umm...do you want to go to that pub with me t-tomorrow or umm perhaps later, or whenever you feel like it...its all up to you. But I'd like it if you came, its...it would be odd to sit there all by myself? Uh...would you...will you—?"

Lily almost chuckled at how endearing he looked when he was all flustered. "I'd love to," she answered, cutting him off and he snapped his head up from where he had been awkwardly staring at his shoes.

"Okay, uh goodnight then," he mumbled before dashing past her and up the stairs, fleeing into Albus's room and shutting the door behind him.

He let out a breath, softly pulling on his hair for having come up with such a disappointing way to ask a girl out. It annoyed him seeing that he was so nervous around Lily, and could barely speak in human ways. He had never had trouble in asking a girl out before. That was the easiest thing he could do, and being so flustered around Lily was a new sensation to him. New, but it was nothing compared to how brilliant it was to kiss her.

Scorpius had been waiting for this moment for so long, he lost count of how many times he had imagined kissing her. And everything else had vanished from his mind the moment she responded to the kiss. The other girls weren't even a smidge compared to how he had felt with Lily. Even though he had acted like the most awkward being ever while asking her out, at least he was relieved that she had said yes (not that he doubted it before but he certainly did due to his rotten way). But Scorpius couldn't help smile as he fell atop the bed and imagined what it would be like to actually call Lily his girlfriend.

A few doors away when Lily entered her room to find Rose sitting up and reading, she tried her best to conceal the smile and her red cheeks but it was no use since Rose immediately picked up that something had happened.

"What is it that you're not telling me?" She asked, shutting her book and eyeing Lily suspiciously.

Lily knew there was no point in hiding, and frankly she didn't want to. If it were up to her, she'd stand on the roof and yell out as to how amazing it was to kiss Scorpius.

"We kissed," she said as she sat on the bed, gathering her numerous cushions together.

Rose's eyes widened excitedly and she nearly squealed happily as she jumped over to Lily's bed and tackled her into a hug. Lily chuckled and hugged Rose back.

"Oh Merlin, how was it?" She chirped when they let go of each other.

Lily sighed dreamily.

"I can't tell you, Rose," she breathed. "It was wonderful...so, so wonderful."

"I am so happy for you!" Rose grinned gleefully. "Pesky boy finally cut the tension."

"He asked me out," said Lily.

"About time." Rose mockingly rolled her eyes and Lily smacked her arm playfully.

They spent a while talking about things and lost track of time as they did. Later when Lily dozed off and as did Rose, the lights faded out all by themselves and at the sound of the soft snowflakes tapping across the window, the house slept in silence.

Scorpius, who had fallen asleep with a grin, did wake up with one, but it soon vanished when he realized what he was supposed to do today. He sat up worriedly, wondering as to how he would put forth the news of the return of Bellatrix Lestrange's son. He was no better than his mother, if not the same. Scorpius despised the fact that he had such a family member. Grumbling a cuss to himself, Scorpius dragged his body out of bed and left to freshen up. Albus was still asleep, and Scorpius decided to wake him up later.

Half an hour later when the family had assembled into the dining room for breakfast, Scorpius's nervousness entirely disappeared. Lily's smiling face in front of him calmed his so easily repaired the jumbled mess of his mind, Scorpius couldn't understand how she had such an effect on him. He felt rather confident when they all took their seats and breakfast was served. It was a late morning since they had all slept quite late the previous night. The memory of his kiss with Lily was still fresh in Scorpius's mind, and he did nothing to push it away. In fact, he was awaiting the next chance for it to happen again.

There was a faint chatter, for last night's exhaustion had still not worn out, and Scorpius thought it the right moment to intervene and break the news. It was now or never. There was limited time and they would have to make some arrangements for protection. With a glance in George's direction, who gave him an encouraging nod, Scorpius cleared his throat rather loudly to gather everyone's attention. He tried to avoid Albus's groggy visage, James's scrutinizing gaze and Lily's straight face as he prepared himself to announce.

"I have some news to share with you all," he began, clamping his hands together underneath the table. The table looked at him patiently so he would continue. Scorpius didn't know where to start, so he just let words fall out of his mouth as they would.

"Most of you must know about a certain witch called Bellatrix Lestrange," he said, letting his eyes look around speedily so he wouldn't have to make eye contact with anyone for a long time to notice their reactions. Lily adjusted herself in her seat, not quite ready to let people know of her secret flying lessons, worried that they would stop. "What you probably don't know is that she has a son. I have confirmed news that he has come to avenge the death of his mother, and plans to attack your family soon. He already made an attempt at Lily the other night."

As he said that, gasps ran across the table and Ginny's hand trembled, letting the fork she was holding, fall onto the table loudly. Harry's hand immediately shot up to hold that of hers.

"He attacked Lily?" Harry asked incredulously.

Scorpius nodded. "Since that is out, its time for another revelation." He glanced at Lily once, who let out a sigh. "Lily has been taking secret flying lessons with me after dark."

Scorpius's eyes involuntarily stopped at James who was shooting daggers in his direction, as though he would hex Scorpius whichever chance he got. Albus could only stare wide-eyed.

"Please," he raised a hand when James was about to protest and possibly shoot a hex. "Let me finish. You can kill me later." Lily felt like chuckling for some reason.

"I will explain about the lessons, but there's another more important matter to dwell upon. Mizar Lestrange is a dangerous man. He Stunned Lily during one of our flying lessons. I'm guessing it was a warning of sorts...I'm not sure. It wasn't very bad, and Rose took care of her. We discussed this with George the morning after the attack and he suggested to hold this news until after Christmas, that's why the delay." Everyone glanced at George once who just shrugged in response, as though there was no other option.

"Dad confirmed in his letter that Lestrange is gathering a secret army of sorts, and wants to avenge his mother's death, since he was trained as a Death Eater, and holds a grudge against Harry Potter for having killed Voldemort. You might be warned through the Ministry if they were to find out about this, but I felt it my duty to warn you all."

There was pin-drop silence when Scorpius finished. The ticking of the clock was the only sound, and it seemed louder than it had ever been.

"Voldemort probably didn't know how many generations of kids he was going to inflict direct or indirect torture upon," muttered Ron, breaking the silence and everyone looked at him quietly, unable to say anything.

Finally, Harry sighed. "Well, I'm glad Lily's safe," he said. "And thank you, Scorpius, for having shared this important news with us. I did have a feeling that there was a threat and now it's been confirmed. Ron and I will go to the Ministry and spread the word to other Aurors. If this man is as dangerous as you say, we need to protect everyone around. I shall also make the necessary arrangements to protect Godric's Hollow."

He then turned to Ginny. "Don't worry, darling. Nothing will harm us."

Ginny didn't say anything, just stood up as though something had hit her, and rushed towards Lily to pull her into an embrace.

"You're okay, honey?" she cooed, holding Lily's face in her hands gently.

"I'm alright, mum," Lily whispered as tears brimmed her eyes and she hugged her mother close.

Scorpius suddenly felt relieved after having shared this burden with everyone. He didn't even bother looking at James who still seemed to be quite angry instead of worrying about his sister being attacked.

"Next time something like this happens, you inform us right away, understand?" Ginny said to Lily and she nodded, smiling.

"Alright, well," Harry said. "I don't want anybody to be scared and not be able to enjoy their holidays. Everything will be taken care of. We've defeated the darkest wizard of all time, I'm sure we can take on a Death Eater's son. For now, I just want all of you to be on alert, but still be able to live normally. Scorpius," he looked straight at him. "I'm aware that Lily wants to be a Chaser, and I appreciate you giving her lessons, but it would be much better if this was done in daylight, with everyone's knowledge. We need to be safe, and you kids should be given more protection anyway. So I'm going to request George to assist you in your flying lessons. That way you have an efficient teacher as well as adult protection. Is that okay, George?"

"We can set up a goal hoop or two in the yard," he smiled. "It should be fun training our little one here."

Lily smiled. At least they hadn't cancelled the flying lessons. She wanted to hug her father. Although she knew James would obviously protest. He confirmed her doubts.

"I'm not comfortable with Lily taking lessons with him," he said, glaring at Scorpius. "We're all equipped enough to help her out. She doesn't need him."

"I'm going to go with James on this one," said Albus. "Sorry, mate," he said to Scorpius who didn't know what to say. So he just sat there, staring at the untouched plate of food.

That had Lily fuming. What right did any of them have to protest against someone actually willing to help her, when they had turned her down before?

"I'm sorry, but I'd rather take lessons from someone who himself offered to help me instead of begging you all to do the same," she said. Rose nearly groaned. There was going to be another fight. "I've asked the two of you enough times to be turned down, and I'm not taking any more of this rubbish. Scorpius is going to give me flying lessons along with Uncle George, and you two," she stood up, pointing her index finger at the both of them, "are not going to say a single word against my decision because I really don't need any more of your interference in my life. Mum and dad are fine with this arrangement, and I frankly don't give a damn what you guys think."

With that, she threw her napkin on the table and marched out of the dining room, leaving everyone in stunned silence. Harry almost chuckled.

"Since that is settled," he said, finishing his breakfast. "George, I'd like you to make sure none of my sons interfere in this matter. I trust you to handle this. Ron and I are leaving for the Ministry now."

He stood up and was about to leave when Scorpius stood as well, confidence radiating off of him as though he was about to do something daring.

"I have to ask your permission for something, Mr. Potter," he spoke, taking a glance at James who was now busy glaring at his food as was Albus. George had left the kitchen when an owl arrived at the window.

"Go on," Harry urged.

"If you and Mrs. Potter are alright with it, would it be okay if I took Lily out to the pub today?"

Harry's eyes widened and Ginny concealed her smirk. It wasn't as though she hadn't noticed the obvious tension between Scorpius and her daughter. She had even discussed with Hermione, who had quite easily knew that this was going to happen soon. They had made a bet soon after to see when Scorpius would ask Lily out, and as Ginny had predicted, he wouldn't wait a day later than Christmas. Hermione seemed to think it would take a little longer. She was scowling at Ginny who gave a shrug. Hermione left to find ten galleons to hand over to Ginny.

"Well, you both aren't kids anymore," said Harry. "Go ahead. But make sure not to hurt her in any way or I will set loose both my sons on you."

Even though Harry was smiling, there was a hint of seriousness in his tone that Scorpius didn't fail to notice.

"I'll make sure not to," he answered, beaming and then with a victorious smirk in James's direction, Scorpius took his seat at the table and began eating his breakfast.

Harry and Ron took their leave while the rest of them finished eating. When they were done and Scorpius was walking out of the kitchen, James grabbed his collar and shoved him to a wall threateningly.

"You've brought yourself some trouble, mate," he snarled. Albus came up to stand behind his brother, not even half as furious as James. He placed a hand on James's shoulder and pulled him back.

"Let it be," he said quietly. "Lily is right. We've been arses to her all this time and we can't be angry because he's helping her. As far as them going out is concerned, we all knew this was coming sooner or later."

Scorpius felt like the happiest person in the world. Albus's sudden change in behaviour was something he wasn't expecting, and he didn't know what he could do to express his gratitude to his best friend.

"Are you serious?" James hissed, letting go of Scorpius and turning to face Albus. "Do you really want our sister to be going out with someone as frivolous as him?"

Before Scorpius could protest and give James a piece of his mind, Albus spoke. "She's not a child anymore, James. She knows what she's doing. Every day she sees him in school with a different girl, and yet if she's willing to go out with him then it's all her choice. We can't be breathing down her neck any longer. And besides..." He stepped past James and stood before Scorpius. "If you treat our sister like the other girls, Scorpius, make no mistake, our friendship will be as good as over, and you won't see the light of day. Do you understand?"

The seriousness on Albus's face almost made Scorpius smile seeing as to how much he loved his sister.

"I promise you, mate. She's nothing like those other girls."

That was all Albus needed to hear, and the lack of hesitation in Scorpius's tone reassured him enough to let this go on. James, although a bit unconvinced, decided to let it go and left along with Albus. Scorpius let out a breath of relief for not having lost his best friend. He didn't know what had made him publicly ask for Harry's permission to take Lily out, but now that he had done it, he felt much better that he didn't have to sneak around to show her affection.

He decided to go and talk to her when George burst through the front door, a panicked expression across his face as a crumpled letter fell from his hands.

"What's wrong, George?" Ginny asked, rushing out of the kitchen along with Hermione.

"Mum...it's mum..."

And just like that, colour drained out of Scorpius's face.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Scorpius had a blurred memory of that day. There was a lot of running...shuffling...screaming...his hand being grabbed and shoved into the fireplace...floo power being scuffled into his hand...him having muttered 'the Burrow' in a hazy state...arriving at the Burrow moments later...blackout. He woke up in a sweat. His heart was beating fast, body was shivering and he wished nothing but to bury himself into the blankets and go back to sleep, but the nightmares once his eyes were closed was something he didn't want to witness again.

Gasping for breath, Scorpius opened his eyes to unfamiliar surroundings. He was in a cramped room, surrounded by wooden walls and his bed creaked under him when he moved. With burning eyes, he adjusted his vision and sat up, dragging his aching body along. There was a sofa chair beside the bed he was sleeping upon, and it was occupied by the curled up figure of Lily.

He opened his mouth to say something but his throat felt extremely parched. Scorpius found a glass of water on the table, and if he could just reach his hand towards it, he'd be able to grab it and gulp it down. But as soon as his fingers collided with the glass, it slid off the table and fell to the floor.

Lily's eyes shot open, a lost look in them for a moment as she registered as to where she was. She immediately rushed to Scorpius's side seeing him awake, and sat on the bed in front of him. Scorpius noticed the dark patches under her eyes, as though she hadn't slept in days. He wondered what had happened to him, how he had found himself in this strange room. The last memory he had was of James cornering him after breakfast. Had he taken Lily to that pub? Scorpius tried hard to recall, but nothing came to mind.

"Are you thirsty? I'll go get some water..." Lily hastily mumbled and stood up to leave, stopping short as though she remembered something and turned around. "How are you feeling?" She asked.

Scorpius cleared his parched throat; hoping words would come out this time. "I don't know..." he rasped.

"I'll be right back," she muttered and dashed out of the room, leaving a confused Scorpius behind.

A cool wind shook the window open and Scorpius felt a chill spreading throughout his body. Instinctively, he pulled the blanket tighter around him and let himself fall onto the bed as he breathed heavily. The door of the room momentarily swung open and someone vaguely familiar strode in along with Lily and Albus. The strange man, whom Scorpius seemed to recognize as one of the Weasley brothers, placed a glass of a funny looking green liquid on the table beside the bed and helped Scorpius up to sitting.

"Steady there, buddy," he said, patting Scorpius's back and handing him the glass of the funny looking liquid.

Scorpius eyed it suspiciously, unwilling to drink it for it seemed as though it would taste just as bad as it looked.

"Drink, you'll feel better," said the man, and Scorpius — not knowing what else to do — held the glass in both of his hands and took a sip. He immediately wanted to spit it out but when his head felt a little lighter, he slowly gulped it down. It didn't soothe his parched throat much, but was enough to make him sit in one position without wanting to just fall back on the bed.

"Is he going to be okay, Uncle Bill?" Lily asked worriedly.

Scorpius now realized that the man was Bill Weasley. He did think he had an idea seeing all the scars across his face.

"W-what is going on? Where am I?" Scorpius enquired before anyone else could speak, once he had found his voice.

"We're at the Burrow, mate," Albus answered. "Home of the Weasley family."

"What? Why are we here? And what happened to me?"

Lily began to speak when Albus placed a hand on her shoulder and gestured to her to sit on the chair. She didn't say anything and obeyed, letting Albus pull a chair beside Scorpius's bed. Bill got up and left the room asking Scorpius to keep drinking the potion.

"When we were back at home, an owl arrived with a letter addressed to Uncle George," Albus began. "It was from our grandfather. The letter said that there had been an attack on Grandma Molly. She was Stunned just Lily had been, but it had an adverse effect on Grandma since she's old and weak. She's been unconscious since. There have been Healers out and about here but we'll probably have to take her to St. Mungo's. As for you, when we were going to leave to come here, you passed out. Mum said you came down with a fever.

"You did wake up once, before we came here but then the fever only intensified. We got here a couple of days ago. Dad sent an owl to Malfoy Manor. Your mum is going to be here soon. Our dads have both decided to convene and find Mizar Lestrange, along with Uncle Ron and other Aurors. Mr. Malfoy came to see you but you were in no condition to wake up. So they left this morning. And Lily has been here for the past two nights taking care of you."

Scorpius glanced at Lily once, who had dozed off on the chair in a similar position as she had been when he woke up. He ran a frustrated hand through his hair, sipping the potion in one go and replacing it on the table. Suddenly his body wasn't shivering anymore and he pushed the blankets off of him, inhaling the cool air coming in through the open window.

"Is...is your Grandma going to be alright?" He asked. Albus sighed, looking down at the floor for a moment.

"Her condition got worse this morning," Albus said. "She didn't seem to be recovering. They're probably taking her to St. Mungo's now. Dad says Lestrange won't rest without harming all those associated with the killer of his mother, and the destroyer of Voldemort."

Scorpius suddenly felt more ill than ever. It was as though it was his entire fault that his best friend's family was in such trouble. After all, Mizar Lestrange was none other than his own uncle. Scorpius just hoped that Lestrange didn't find out about him being friends with the Potters and Weasleys. It would surely aggravate him more. Though, he didn't understand as to how his dad had decided to join the Potters in finding Mizar.

"When did dad get here?" He asked, shifting in his spot.

The linens were soggy due to all of the sweat, and Scorpius suddenly felt disgusted. He needed a shower, and those poor sheets needed to be cleaned soon.

"Last night," Albus answered. Something hit him and he shuffled around in his pockets only to pull out a folded piece of parchment. "I forgot to tell you. He said to give you this letter when you wake up."

Scorpius took the letter from Albus and quickly unfolded it.

 _Scorpius,_

 _I hope you're alright when you read this. You must be wondering as to how I came here. Mizar Lestrange has found out about you being associated with the Potters, and our family has been termed as blood traitors. I was afraid of any attacks happening at the Manor, and didn't wish to put your mother in any sort of trouble. For that purpose, she will be arriving to the Burrow soon. The only way to stop Mizar from harming you is to collude with the Potters, and as uncomfortable as it seems, I have to do this for you and your mother._

 _Adequate protection has been done around the village to protect it from harm, and if any threat were to occur, Aurors will immediately be here. Meanwhile, I want you to start learning some new spells and hexes along with everyone else so you'd be able to fight in an event of attack. Keep your mother safe. I will be returning as soon as it is possible._

 _Your father,_

 _Draco Malfoy._

At that very moment, Scorpius heard a familiar voice from downstairs. He folded the parchment and shoved it into his pocket as he stood up along with Albus who supported him since he was still a bit sore.

"Ah, mate, you smell horrible," Albus muttered, scrunching up his nose in disgust.

"Want a hug?" Scorpius smirked.

Albus inadvertently shuddered as they walked out of the room. They both gazed down to find Scorpius's mother, Astoria, talking animatedly to Ginny. They stopped chattering when Scorpius called out his mother's name, and she looked up, immediately smiling and hastily scuttling up the stairs. The moment she reached, she pulled Scorpius into an embrace.

"You need a shower, darling," Astoria said, giving her son the most sophisticatedly disgusted look she could muster.

Ginny, who was stood at the stairs below, nearly gave a laugh seeing Astoria's expression.

"I do, mum," Scorpius chuckled, letting go of her. "I'm glad you're here."

"I am, too," she mumbled, smiling but Scorpius did not fail to notice the obvious discomfort that his mother was experiencing, being in this cramped home of the Weasleys as opposed to the spacious Manor.

Scorpius scurried away to get cleaned up and Albus led him to the nearest bathroom. Astoria left to her shared room with Lily, Rose and Victoire. In a different arrangement, Astoria would have preferred a separate room for herself but for now she decided to maintain her resolve and deal with the situation. This was the only way her family would be safe, and Astoria wouldn't mind sleeping out in the yard for that matter.

After Scorpius was done showering, he returned to the room he had woken up in, to find a trembling Lily on the chair. The cold evening air was getting even chillier, and Scorpius hoped that she wouldn't come down with the fever as well. As for him, he felt much better after having finished that ugly potion. He wished he was back to Hogwarts instead of running around everywhere. It felt at home when he was in school, and he was sure that there would be added protection there for Lily at least.

He was horrified enough as it is after Albus had told him that his Grandma Molly had been going in and out of consciousness in the past two days, and every time she woke up, she asked for Fred and George. She would pass out again when she only saw George sitting beside her, holding her hand. Alzheimer's, old age and being Stunned at the same time didn't exactly present itself as being a wonderful experience.

Scorpius grabbed a blanket and thought of covering up Lily when he realized that it was time for dinner. So he decided to wake her up even though he hated to break her sleep. She hadn't slept in two nights, and Scorpius could only wonder whether or not she had even eaten properly. Perhaps that was why she appeared so frail to him. He softly tapped her on the shoulder so as to wake her up, but she only stirred and buried herself deeper into the cushion, wrapping her arms around herself. Scorpius had the urge to embrace her but he realized the priorities.

"Lily," he whispered, crouching on the floor so he was at her level, and shook her shoulder again gently.

Lily groaned and mumbled something incoherent as her eyes fluttered open. She squinted them to regulate her vision.

"Scorpius?" She muttered, her eyes flying open as she glanced at the bed once, for that was where she had last seen him.

"Are you alright?" She asked, hurriedly standing up. Scorpius came up to her level and gave her a reassuring look.

"I'm okay, Lily," he said, pushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Lily stiffened at the sensation running down her spine when his fingers softly grazed her cheek. "I'm sorry to have woken you. But it's time for dinner."

"Right...umm, are you sure you're alright?" She reconfirmed.

Scorpius smiled at her concern and gave a nod.

"I'm completely alright," he said and then fell into a fit of coughs.

Despite herself, Lily chuckled. Her expression changed when he stood up straight after he finished coughing. She realized how scared she had been when he fell ill; thinking that something bad was going to happen after what had hit her grandma.

"What's wrong?" He asked, brushing his fingers on her hand.

"Nothing," she mumbled. "Let's go."

She started to leave when Scorpius caught her arm, pulled her back, leant forward a bit hesitantly thinking she would catch his fever, but then thought better of it and gave her a soft kiss on the lips. Albeit a bit taken aback, Lily's eyes shut by themselves and then opened momentarily when he had pulled away. She smiled, averting her eyes.

"We should go," she said and he nodded, following her out.

"Hey," he said, stopping her outside the room. She turned to him. "It's going to be alright."

"I know." She nodded.

And a moment later as they began to walk down the stairs, the walls shook and their legs wobbled, having them tumble down the stairs. Screams were heard, and the occupants of the Burrow shuffled around to hold themselves still as they ran to save their loved ones. When Scorpius helped Lily up to standing as they groaned in pain, and held on to each other for support, a sinister laugh echoed throughout. Ginny had a fleeting memory of Bellatrix Lestrange's laughter.

When Ginny and Hermione dashed towards the window to see who it was, the former shuddered and was about to collapse when Hermione steadied her. The woman who appeared to be dancing outside in the yard — and whose glimpses were all they could catch — beyond the pond was a splitting image of none other than Bellatrix Lestrange.

And then she was laughing, throwing her head back and grinning as she spoke words that had Ginny's eyes rolling up, and she fell to the floor. Even Hermione was too dumbstruck to react as she stood there staring out the window dazedly.

Because the dancing...skipping...cavorting woman outside was yelling in a sing-song way — the same way in which Bellatrix Lestrange had once announced of having killed Sirius Black.

"I killed Harry Potter!"


	13. Chapter 13

_**A/N: Excuse the mistakes. The chapter hasn't been edited. Do keep the reviews coming :) Thank you! Happy reading.**_

 **Chapter 13**

It was a while until they could get Ginny to wake up. The Burrow had stopped shaking when the woman disappeared before the Aurors could arrive. Those Aurors did not include Harry and Ron. It only worried everyone more, enough to make them wonder whether or not the woman was telling the truth. What nobody could understand was from where this new threat had emerged. Why did she resemble Bellatrix? Were they related? Who was she?

Scorpius was busy questioning his mother as to find out if she knew about this development. But Astoria did not have an answer for his questions. Draco hadn't told her anything about a possible accomplice of Mizar, and she doubted whether he knew about it himself. When Ginny woke up, she had no recollection of what had happened initially, but the moment it hit her, she had trouble breathing. The occupants of the Burrow were all worried about Harry's safety, whether that woman was bluffing, or had he really died like she had announced.

"I'll write to your grandmother," Astoria said to Scorpius. "Maybe she has an answer."

Scorpius gave a curt nod as he watched Lily across the room, trembling on the sofa where Rose was embracing her to calm her down. Tears were streaming down her face at the possibility of having lost her father. Rose could barely contain herself as she tried to hold Lily still. Everyone was scared, and nobody knew who that woman was, and why she had come there. The Aurors were now permanently stationed outside and around, but the harm had already been done. Neither one of them knew whether that woman was telling the truth.

Astoria rushed to find a quill and parchment, scribbled down a short letter before sending her owl with it. She mentioned that a reply was urgent, and hoped that Narcissa Malfoy had some insight into this new development. If this woman was related to Bellatrix, then they were in for some serious trouble.

"We need to do something about this," Hermione said as she handed Ginny a cup of tea. "That woman was surely lying, Ginny. I'm sure Harry is safe. We'll do something, we'll find out what's going on. You need to calm down."

"I'm not going to calm down!" Ginny bellowed, startling everyone. She threw the cup of tea on the floor and stood up. "I'm going to go and see what's going on. And I'm going to kill that woman."

Hermione grabbed Ginny's arm to restrain her when she began to rush towards the door.

"You're not going anywhere, Ginny," she said sternly. "The Aurors have given strict instructions to all of us. We cannot leave the house. None of us." She gave a determined look to the rest of them, giving them the message that any of them were not to come up with any plan of escape. "We have to stay here and protect the kids. This is not the time to act impulsively. There are other ways to find out whether or not that woman was telling the truth and I'm damn sure she was lying. This could be a trap to get us out and then harm us. I will not let our families be destroyed because of some dark wizards and witches setting a ploy."

"WHAT IF HE'S REALLY DEAD, HERMIONE? WHAT THEN?" Ginny screamed.

"He isn't! I need you to calm down, Ginny," she said grabbing Ginny's shoulder's and pushing her onto the sofa. "Is this how you plan to take care of the kids? We have to stay strong. Harry is alive, and I know it. Are you really going to believe some stranger when you've fought alongside Harry to defeat Voldemort? You have to calm down. Do you understand?"

Ginny's breath slowed down as she weighed what Hermione had said. Her eyes fell on a shivering Lily and realization hit her. How could she have ignored her own children and sat there crying? She immediately stood up and rushed towards Lily to pull her into an embrace.

"I'm sorry, darling," she murmured, wiping Lily's tears. "I'm sorry. I promise you it's going to be okay. We're all here. We're safe, and dad's safe too, I'm sure. Don't cry."

Lily's uneven breath relaxed as she gave herself into her mother's arms. She didn't realize when her heartbeat slowed to an average pace, her eyes shut, and she fell asleep with her head cradled in Ginny's arms.

Scorpius ran a frustrated hand through his hair. He could only think of one solution for now. They had to return to Hogwarts. It was the safest place for them at the moment, and the adults would be free to manage things on their own without worrying about the children. Even they would all be free to do their part while staying at Hogwarts. The holidays still had about a week to end, and there wouldn't be too many people at the school, which would make it easier for them to come up with some plan to end Mizar and his accomplices once and for all.

Scorpius couldn't take any more of his family being a nuisance in someone else's life. He strode up to James and Albus who were stood outside the kitchen, trying to figure out who that woman could have been.

"Did Bellatrix have a daughter?" Albus was asking when Scorpius reached them and the two brothers turned to look at him.

"I have a suggestion," he said.

"What?" James asked, still a bit cross with him but Scorpius was the least of his worries at the moment.

"We should go to Hogwarts. It's safer there. The parents wouldn't be so worried about us and they'd function properly. We could help as much we can from school."

"That does not sound like a bad idea," Albus said. He seemed much too calm compared to Lily's reaction. But then again, Scorpius was sure that neither Albus nor James believed that the woman was telling the truth.

"Yeah," James agreed, to Scorpius's utter surprise. "I'll let you guys know whatever is going on from here."

Albus and Scorpius nodded. "Let's go talk to mum," Albus said when James shook his head and held Albus back.

"I'll go talk to mum. You handle the rest of them. She's going to need an adult to tell her that you guys should go to Hogwarts. She won't listen to any of you."

"He has a point," Scorpius said, and Albus shrugged as he walked towards Rose to let her know of the plan.

In other circumstances, they would have asked George to announce the news but he was with his mother and father at St. Mungo's. Scorpius only wondered how Molly Weasley's condition must be now.

"She needs to be taken to bed," Ginny said as she let go of Lily's sleeping figure and placed her on the cramped sofa. James took her aside so Lily wouldn't wake up, while Scorpius and Albus talked to Rose, who was sat next to Lily.

"I'll take her," Scorpius said, leaning forward to carry Lily up when Albus's hand shot up to pull him back.

"Whoa," he said. "You are not going to be in a bedroom alone with her."

Scorpius felt like punching his best friend in the face.

"Do you really think I'm screwed up in the head enough to do something silly with her given the situation?" He hissed.

Albus pulled his hand back. "Right, sorry," he muttered and Rose rolled her eyes.

"You can be really thick sometimes, Alb," she said as Scorpius carefully lifted Lily in his arms.

She mumbled something incoherent under her breath as she unconsciously wrapped her arms around his neck. Stumbling a little, he managed to carry her up to her shared bedroom with Rose and Victoire. Letting her softly fall onto the sleeping bag, he sighed and sat down beside her. Scorpius sighed, resting his back on the wall. He was still a bit weak due to the after effects of the fever, and carrying Lily when he had body ache wasn't very comfortable. He took a glance at her peacefully asleep figure, and stood up to leave the room. As he softly shut the door behind him, he shut his eyes for a moment.

"I'll do everything in my power to make sure you're safe, Lily," he whispered to himself as he returned down to the drawing room where everyone was.

Rose seemed to have agreed to Scorpius's plan of going to Hogwarts, and was now speaking to Hermione. James had already managed to convince Ginny, who had seemed a bit sceptical at first, but even she knew there was no safer place than Hogwarts at the moment. The adults all gathered to discuss as to how they would send the kids back to school, and decided to speak to Headmistress Mcgonagall. She had to know what was going on so everyone else at the school could be protected in an event of attack.

Knowing the Lestrange family, there was no guarantee of the people — who weren't related to the Potter's and the Weasleys' — being safe. They decided to send an owl to Mcgonagall before the children were shipped off using the only safe method available: the Floo network. Hermione wasted no time in writing a detailed letter to Mcgonagall, informing her of all the things that had been happening. She then sent the letter marked urgent, while also discussing with Ginny that George needed to be informed.

The kids, apart from Lily, were all sat in the dining room, gulping down as much dinner they could, given the current state of mind. Rose was comprehensively looking at James and Albus who were busy discussing something amongst each other. They didn't seem half as affected as the rest of them at the possibility of their father being dead. She had even noticed them talking when Ginny had woken up, and they had straightened up instinctively when Scorpius had approached them. Rose had tried not to pay much attention to that since she was busy consoling Lily.

But looking at them now, she was sure that something suspicious was going on. They seemed completely unfazed and it was starting to worry her. When she was done eating, Rose followed the two of them outside so as not to be noticed. She knew they wouldn't reveal their conversation to her if she were to confront them. They were much too secretive to do that. Eavesdropping was the only option.

"She could be his sister," James was whispering as they reached the empty sitting room. "Or maybe Bellatrix's sister...did she have one?"

"I don't know." Albus shrugged. "But I know for sure that dad's not dead. She was bluffing, like Aunt Hermione said. It was probably a trap."

"True. But do you think you can make the plan work?"

"I'm sure going to Hogwarts is the best way to have it done."

Rose craned her neck a bit to listen more clearly.

"He kind of set it up for himself, didn't he?" James chuckled.

"He did," Albus sighed, a bit uncertain.

"Look, I know he's your best friend and you're not exactly thrilled about this whole idea, but this is the only way to keep everyone else safe."

"You're right." Albus nodded. "So let me recall the entire plan. You'll find out how to contact the Lestrange's. I will write to them posing as Scorpius. When we know what their plan is, we'll inform everyone and then the Aurors can handle the rest. Correct?"

Rose's heart sank. Could James and Albus really be that cruel? Could Albus really have courage enough to betray his best friend this way? She wanted to march in there and knock some sense into the both of them for having thought of something so deranged and evil. It was a good way to find out what the Lestranges were up to, but not good enough to betray Scorpius like that. It was unfair, unjust, and downright pitiless. Rose could barely contain herself, and she kept her mouth shut by holding her palm tightly over her lips.

"Correct," James said. "That way we also save Lily from destroying her life with that boy."

Rose realized that James was the reason for the sudden change in Albus's behaviour. The approval that Albus had given to Scorpius for going out with Lily, the fact that he had barely reacted when Scorpius had asked Harry's permission to take Lily out...it had all been planned. James had come up with this strategy to keep Lily and Scorpius away from each other, at the same time creating another rift between the Potters and the Malfoys. She had to stop this...Rose had to warn Lily and Scorpius of what was happening.

But before she could run out of there, James had grabbed her hand and pulled her into the room. He was about to question her as to what she was doing there, and possibly get her in with the plan, but at that very moment, Astoria barged into the sitting room carrying a parchment in her hands.

"Is Scorpius here?" She asked and when she didn't spot him there, she frantically turned around and left to go to the drawing room.

Rose, Albus and James followed her outside curiously. Astoria decided to speak to Hermione since she could not find Scorpius.

"Her name is Ascella," she said, gasping for breath as Hermione frowned.

"That woman?" She confirmed and Astoria nodded.

"She's Mizar's twin."


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

It was that evening when the adults had agreed upon sending the kids back to Hogwarts. Having two dangerous dark wizards trying to wreak havoc every place they went only made it even worse for the kids to stay at anywhere except Hogwarts. Astoria had also confirmed that the attack on Lily was done by Ascella as opposed to Mizar, since he didn't want to meddle into petty matters like creating tension. He believed in striking directly. Ascella, on the other hand, was a vicious witch of the likes of her mother. She had never gone to a school, and was given guidance by Mizar over whatever he had learned at Durmstrang.

She was just as notorious as Bellatrix, and wanted to terrify whomever she could. It was Ascella who had found it an adventurous feat to Stun Lily when she and Scorpius were taking their flying lessons. Upon hearing that, Ginny's temper had soared high enough to have her feel as though using the killing curse against Ascella right that minute, but she was restrained effectively by Hermione. Later that night, they all decided that it was best that the kids be sent back to Hogwarts.

The preparations were immediately done, and the kids assembled at the fireplace first thing the next morning. Rose was a bit sceptical at first, knowing what James and Albus had planned. She wanted to warn someone about it but the amount of chaos around the Burrow was enough to silence her. She hadn't even gotten time to confront James and Albus about their plan that could very well wreck everything. But James had threatened her not to tell anyone or he'd tell Lily about how Rose had once kissed Scorpius.

Rose didn't want to recall that incident. It was something that she wanted to forget. She was young, and like every other girl, she too was smitten by Scorpius's good looks and his charming personality. Fate had it that the two of them were paired for a Potions assignment, during which, she had kissed Scorpius. He hadn't responded to it, and that had been the most embarrassing moment in Rose's life. She had decided to forget about it, and from that day on begun to hate him. She knew that he hardly remembered being kissed by her, since there were so many girls whom he had been with.

Rose was thankful for that, and since she had nobody to talk to about that incident, she had ended up telling James. It was over three years ago, and at that time he had been really supportive, but this wasn't something she wanted Lily to know. Rose didn't know what she could do to stop James, because losing Lily was much more important to her than Scorpius unknowingly becoming a traitor of sorts. She cursed her fate the moment James threatened her, and wanted to hit him on the head for being this cruel. She was busy wondering all night what else she could do to stop Albus and James from doing this.

It was morning now, and she hadn't come up with a solution. They were all ready to go to Hogwarts, and Albus had just disappeared within the fireplace. He was followed by Scorpius, Lily, and then Rose who bid her goodbyes and left on her momentary journey to Hogwarts. They arrived in Headmistress Mcgonagall's office, where they were greeted by her and given reports on how they were to not engage into any activities that would bring trouble to the school and the students.

Safety measures had been taken already to protect the school, and everyone was staying there for the holidays had been warned about the precautions to be taken. Letters were sent to those who had gone home, and parents were advised to keep safe. When the kids were all allowed to leave, Scorpius pulled Lily aside to talk to her. Albus and Rose walked away and towards the great hall.

"Are you doing okay?" He asked concernedly.

He hadn't been able to get a chance to speak to her after they had been told of Harry's supposed death. Scorpius didn't know how she was feeling after all the events that had gone down. Lily's worn out visage was something he had clearly noticed all this while, and he wished to comfort her as much as he could.

She sighed, shutting her tired eyes for a moment before opening them. "I'm fine," she muttered.

"Lily," he said soothingly, grabbing her shoulders and lifting her chin so she was looking at him. "I'm sure your dad's okay. You have to be strong until we hear more news, alright? I have a feeling he's completely alright. The man who defeated Voldemort couldn't possibly be killed by some petty dark wizard."

Lily looked into his eyes and suddenly had the urge to kiss him. Why hadn't she noticed his good nature before? All she had seen was him loitering around with other girls, charming them, and playing pranks with Albus; but she had completely missed the caring and trustworthy nature that he possessed. She had been a little unsure about dating him given his reputation, and she didn't wish to be another one of those girls that he went out with for a week and forgot. But his concern about her safety and the care that he showed for her was all that was needed to make her want to be with him.

"I hope he's okay," she said softly, her eyes getting moist at the thought of losing her father.

"He is," said he. "I know he is."

Lily didn't waste time in wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him. She stood on her tiptoes as she buried her head into his chest and Scorpius only tightened his arms around her. He kissed the top of her head softly when they let go of each other, and gave her a smile.

"Thanks," she mumbled, tucking her hair behind her ear. Scorpius said nothing, but retained his smile.

"I'll go settle things in the dorm," he said a moment later. "See you at breakfast?"

Lily nodded.

"It'll be okay, love," he whispered. "Have a little faith." He quickly pecked her cheek and dashed off, leaving a bashful Lily behind. The smile that grazed her lips refused to disappear as she walked towards the Gryffindor dormitory.

She walked into the empty dormitory and sat on her four-poster, letting herself fall onto the bed as she stared up at the ceiling. The thoughts of her father being dead somewhere kept haunting her mind every now and then, and she could barely shake the thought. Unless and until the news of his safety came, there was no way Lily would be able to relax. With a sigh, she pulled on her jumper and walked out to the great hall for breakfast.

Her eyes were drooping in exhaustion and head was pounding away as she strolled towards the great hall, with her hands shoved into the pockets of her jumper. The great hall was hardly occupied by ten to fifteen people who had stayed back. She strode towards the Ravenclaw table where Rose was sitting with a book. Lily took a seat opposite Rose and gave her a smile as they started to eat.

"Is there anything we'd be able to do from here?" Lily asked as she gobbled up the omelette, as though she had been deprived of food for days.

She had barely eaten anything the previous night at the Burrow, and her stomach was grumbling for food.

Rose couldn't help but think of what Albus and James were planning to do. She wanted so much to tell Lily of what was going on but she couldn't gather courage enough to do so. She resorted to sighing and shrugging in response as she averted her eyes. Lily frowned a bit at Rose's behaviour but then returned to her food.

Moments later they were joined by Scorpius and Albus, who were followed by a fellow Slytherin. They all took their seats with Rose and Lily. They did not have to sit at the assigned house table since there were hardly any people. Scorpius took a seat beside Lily, while Albus continued chatting with the Slytherin boy, Tom.

"Hey," Scorpius whispered in Lily's ear. A bit startled, she tilted her head to give him a sideways glance.

"What?" She whispered back.

"Do you want to continue with the flying lessons?"

Lily thought about it for a moment. She did miss the lessons, and now that they were in school, they could practice at the Quidditch pitch with the goal hoops and everything. It sounded like a great idea. She gave a nod in response, smiling at the prospect of getting a distraction from everything.

"We still have a week until school starts. The pitch will be unoccupied, and we can get a lot of practice done," he said again.

"Sounds good," she answered.

"We'll go after breakfast."

"Okay."

Rose, who had overheard everything, decided to talk to Albus hoping to talk him out of the plan that he had made with James. Since Lily and Scorpius would be busy, she'd get enough time to talk to Albus. Perhaps he would understand the cruelty of what he was about to do to his best friend, and drop the whole thing. When Scorpius and Lily took off after they were done eating, Rose immediately rushed to stop Albus when he was leaving with Tom.

"I need to talk to you," she said, grabbing his arm to stop him.

Tom gave a shrug, muttering something about seeing Albus later, and left. Albus turned to Rose with his eyebrows raised in question. She pulled him towards the courtyard that was occupied only by one or two ghosts traversing around.

"Do you really think what you're planning to do with James is going to bring good results?" She asked.

Albus rolled his eyes as though he had heard this a million times from her already.

"We've talked about this, Rose," he said, exasperated. "This is the only way to extract enough information.

"Are you serious? Why do you want to betray your best friend this way? It could very well cause more problems!"

"Look, James and I have weighed the pros and cons and come to this decision. He thinks that it is a good way to save dad. He's sure that dad's been captured and stuff. The only way to know what's going on is by going with the plan. Scorpius is my best friend, yes, but dad's more important."

"There are Aurors and other Ministry officials doing their jobs to get things under control," Rose chastised. "What if you two end up getting everyone into trouble?"

"We're being cautious!" Albus said, frustrated. "It's not like we don't know what we're doing, so back off, Rose!"

He began to walk away when Rose pulled him back angrily.

"What you're doing is wrong, Albus, and you know it."

"I am not a child, so I'd appreciate it if you stop treating me like one," Albus snarled menacingly.

Rose wanted to hex him, or probably wipe off his memories about his discussion with James to make him stop. But instead she resorted to the next best asset on her hands.

"Fine. You go and do what you wish to. You're a grown-up adult, aren't you? So go ahead with this plan. I will be out in the Quidditch pitch telling Lily and Scorpius what is going to happen," she shot back just as viciously.

As she turned around to leave, Albus grabbed her arm and pulled her back forcefully.

"You say one word to them and you'll see Lily fluttering out of your life for good when she finds out what you've done," he said, glaring at her furiously.

Rose's breath stopped. She hadn't thought that Albus would know what James knew. That hadn't crossed her mind at all, and now she hated herself for thinking that Albus would be stupid enough to not know. Albus noticed her panicked expression and gave an evil smirk.

"Yeah, James told me what you did, Rose," he said. "And don't think, for one second that I wouldn't go and tell Lily about it because I will. Since you don't have any proof for what we're planning, she'll believe me. You know why? Because at one point Scorpius is bound to remember that incident, and I'm sure he will not lie to Lily's face."

With that, he let go of Rose's arm and stormed off, leaving her staring after him in dread. She fell back on the wall and ran a hand through her hair worriedly. There was nothing she could do to stop him. Albus was going to do what he had planned, and all Rose could do was watch it happen...watch Scorpius be baited into this inhuman circle where he'd lose Lily...where he'd probably even lose every good thing in his life. She dragged her feet towards the Quidditch pitch where Scorpius and Lily were flying about fiercely.

Scorpius was guarding the goal hoops and Lily was shooting the Quaffle in his direction. They were battling each other so ferociously that it was hard for Rose to take her eyes away from them. Those two were perfect for each other, and even though Rose was ready to lose Lily if it meant saving everyone from what Albus and James were doing, she could hardly take any action because Lily wouldn't believe her due to lack of proof.

Either way, Scorpius was going to lose Lily, and as much as the thought of Lily's sadness scared Rose, there was no escape from this. She was trapped...they were all trapped. And none of this would have happened had the wretched Lestrange twins not come into the picture. Rose cursed the fate of those two for having created such trouble in the lives of innocent families. Though she was reconsidering James and Albus's innocence, she couldn't avoid thinking about the fact that they were only doing this to find out if their father was safe. The whole thing was a vicious circle, and Rose did not see any sign of hope. What lay ahead was only pain and struggle.

She hoped, for Scorpius's sake, that he would be able to handle what was coming. Because she knew that Albus had already started with the plan; and Rose wasn't wrong. There Albus was in the library all on his own, pretending to write something in a book when he was actually penning down a letter addressed to Mizar Lestrange. Although his heart was thudding in his chest out of nervousness, Albus couldn't stop his hands from scribbling furiously on the parchment. James had already given him a draft of what the letter should contain, and all Albus had to do was copy Scorpius's handwriting and write it in a way a Malfoy would. Rose's words were ringing in his ears, and the fact that he was on his way to betraying his best friend was something Albus could not get his mind away from.

But the possibility of having lost his father was making him do this, aside from the fact that the others needed to be saved from more harm. Albus didn't know what else was there to be done. The Aurors were probably getting captured themselves; the Lestranges were not ones to be underestimated. Albus knew that. James knew that. And the only reason they were doing this was after having seen how Ginny had reacted when she heard of Harry's supposed death. Her condition had terrified the two brothers, and even though they didn't show it, they were scared to death.

James had decided that this was their one and only chance to find out what the Lestrange twins were planning. It was important to do this. And it didn't matter how fast Albus's heart was racing, how his mind wouldn't stop telling him that this was wrong, and how clearly Rose's words were echoing in his ears...he had to do this. Letting out a deep breath, Albus sealed the letter and with hesitant steps, walked towards the Owlery.

Albus stared after the owl that fluttered away into the distance and disappeared, and almost in an instant, he started to regret what he had just done. Now that it was done, Albus returned to the dormitory and decided to take a nap. As he passed by the courtyard, he thought of going to the Quidditch pitch to see if Scorpius and Lily were still practicing. He spotted Scorpius ducking as the Quaffle shot by Lily rushed towards him and went right through the goal hoops. Unwittingly, Albus smiled.

Scorpius stared wide-eyed at the pace at which Lily had thrown the Quaffle, and she burst out laughing seeing the horrified yet impressed expression that he held. She was feeling this exhilarated after a long time, and Lily didn't want this feeling to go away. Why couldn't this be it? Why couldn't it be this easy, where they didn't have to worry about threats looming over their heads? They could just be happily taking these flying lessons as they had done the nights before Lily was attacked. If only the Lestranges hadn't come barging into their lives, Lily and Scorpius would've had a normal, happy, carefree relationship like two young lovers were supposed to have.

She felt the happiest when she was flying, and flying with Scorpius made it all the more exciting. This was the best distraction, but Lily knew that it wouldn't last long. Those nightmarish thoughts would return and she'd go back to being terrified about having lost her dad. These couple hours with Scorpius in the Quidditch pitch were all she had, and she was going to make the most of them and try to be happy as she could, before a threat came rushing again.

"I think that's all for today, miss," he said as he neared her where she was hovering far away, opposite to the goal hoops.

"That's it?" She mused. "But we just started!"

"I'm sorry but I don't want to get my head smashed in with a Quaffle," he chuckled.

"Oh, come on! Like you don't know how to protect yourself from that." Lily rolled her eyes.

They continued to argue playfully about whether or not they should continue with the game or stop, and Rose chuckled where she was watching the two from the stands. She sighed and decided to go do some reading and distract herself from getting saddened about Lily and Scorpius being apart. As she was leaving the pitch, she spotted Albus pulling on his boots and grabbing his broomstick before he walked towards the pitch.

"What are you doing?" She hissed, thinking that he was going to spoil Lily and Scorpius's flying lesson.

She didn't wish their limited time together to be meddled with, by Albus being his intervening self.

"I'm sorry for how I acted, Rose," he said. "But I did mean what I said."

Rose rolled her eyes and scoffed. "You didn't answer my question. And I'm not letting you go and wretch their time together. You're already creating trouble in their lives anyway."

"I know that the time Lily has with Scorpius is limited until the truth gets out, but along with her, my time is limited too. He's my best friend, and I'd like to stop being an arse to him until he realizes what I've done. Think of it as a way of my repentance for what I'm going to do," Albus explained. "And if it means helping him give lessons to Lily, then I'll do it. God knows Lily doesn't deserve this either."

Rose stared at Albus, contemplating as to what he was saying. She let out a sigh, seeing the truth in his eyes and let him join Lily and Scorpius up there, armed with a Bludger. She tilted her head upwards to watch as Albus hit Scorpius on the back playfully as the two talked. When Lily raised her eyebrows hearing what Albus had said, Rose realized that he had spoken the truth about helping them. A tear stealthily slipped down her cheek and she hurried away towards the dormitory knowing that the laughter she was hearing from the Quidditch pitch wasn't going to last long.

Albus, Lily and Scorpius spent another hour and a half at the Quidditch pitch, and Lily had never been happier. She felt thankful to Albus for having been there for her and helped her. The anger that she had once felt for him was now slowly disappearing, and she began to accept that he wasn't completely against her trying for Chaser. When the three of them were exhausted and ready to fall onto their beds, they left the Quidditch pitch, and Scorpius whispered to Lily to see him at the Astronomy tower after the two of them had freshened up.

Lily, who was ecstatic as it is after the Quidditch practice, didn't waste any time in showering and changing into a fresh set of clothes before she found herself sitting beside Scorpius at the edge of the tower where they were busy chatting about anything and everything. Lily hardly had a track of time as they spent nearly the entire day together. It was good enough to distract her from everything, and she didn't mind it one bit. They had spent the day together, and were only so dejected as they had to depart when it was time to sleep. The cycle continued for the next two days, and none of them noticed that when on the morning of the third day, an owl arrived bearing a letter for Scorpius, it was received by Albus; who, after reading it, burnt it to crisp. Mizar Lestrange had responded.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

As per what James had found out on his own, Lucius Malfoy was helping the Lestranges in their mission. He was giving out as much information he had, and the twins were using that to their advantage. As far as associating with Draco and Scorpius was concerned, Lucius did not have anything to do with them anymore, due to the mere reason of them having allied with blood-traitors.

Albus had sent a letter, not to Mizar but to Lucius, requesting to forward the same to Mizar, informing them that Draco was only with the Potters and Weasleys so he could conspire with the Lestranges by being an insider for them. Scorpius, on the other hand, was only a pawn of Draco. The upside to this whole situation was the fact that Lucius Malfoy was actually helping the Lestranges, which made it easy for them to believe that the rest of the Malfoys were also on their side.

Albus used this to his advantage, and posing as Scorpius, sent another letter to Lucius, who would respond on behalf of Mizar. So far, there had been no substantial information that he could extract. It had been three days since they returned to Hogwarts, and all that he had told James was that the army of Mizar still called themselves Death Eaters just to pay homage to Voldemort. Aside from that, the Malfoys had officially been included as being in the army as insiders who were helping by staying with the Potters and Weasleys.

Albus hadn't failed to mention that he — as Scorpius — was more than willing to help in any way he could from Hogwarts. The response was only a small letter of acknowledgement. Albus was getting frustrated for not having extracted any information. James or any of the other adults hadn't received any information over Harry either. Nobody knew where the Aurors were even though they were trying very hard to find out what was going on.

Albus wrote another letter, discreetly trying to find out their location and also to ask if Harry was alive. He was eagerly awaiting a response, but so far there had been none. It was starting to feel as though the walls of the school were going to eat him alive if he didn't find out about Harry's safety. Albus was trying his best to control the urge of punching something until his knuckled drew blood. Meanwhile, he had seen Scorpius and Lily getting closer and closer as time went by. They were usually found spending time together at the lake, or taking a walk around the school, or most of the time practicing in the Quidditch pitch. Lily had gotten considerably good in her lessons, and Albus didn't doubt the fact that she would be able to try for Chaser next year. He was going to sit in the great hall so he could pretend to finish his holiday homework when he spotted the pair of them leaving from where they were seated at the Ravenclaw table with Rose.

"Going somewhere?" he asked when they met at the entrance.

"Just taking a walk," Scorpius answered, offering a smile that Albus duly returned to both him and Lily. He then watched them stride out of the hall with their hands entwined.

Albus walked up to Rose and sat opposite to her. She had been quite distant with him, and in all honesty, he didn't blame her. He had acted as a pain, and it was normal for Rose to not even be on speaking terms with him. Although, she was being her nice self and replying in one word answers whenever he addressed her; but when he sat in front of her across the table, she hardly even acknowledged his presence. It was as though she wasn't aware of anybody sitting there.

"Rose," he said softly. She hummed in response, busy scribbling in her notebook.

"May I see your Transfiguration assignment?"

"No."

Albus nearly rolled his eyes at her behaviour.

"Please? I need to check if I've done it right," he urged carefully. The last thing he wanted to do was get on her nerves again.

"You've hardly been doing anything right these days, Albus," she shot back, now lifting her head. "I doubt your Transfiguration assignment would be any good." With that she shoved a piece of parchment in his direction so he could see.

It was her assignment, and as much as he wanted to retort in rage to what she had said, he held back, resorting to glare at her a bit as he opened the parchment and looked through it. As he was busy reading throughout the assignment, an owl arrived and dropped an envelope onto the table between Albus and Rose. It wasn't the owl that Albus used to correspond with Lucius Malfoy, but Rose didn't know that. She assumed that it was from whomever he was communicating to posing as Scorpius, and stared at the envelope for a long moment before Albus picked it up with shaky fingers. Rose continued to glare at him. Fuming, she slammed her books shut — no longer wanting to be in Albus's presence — and stormed out of the great hall carrying her huge stack of books.

Albus sighed and opened the envelope to reveal a letter, and when he read the contents of it, his breath nearly stalled. The letter had come from George. He ran out of the great hall to find Rose.

Scorpius and Lily were strolling around the courtyard when they spotted Albus rushing past them. Lily stopped walking and frowned, turning to look at Scorpius.

"What's wrong with him?" she asked.

"Probably forgot something," he answered. "I wouldn't worry." He shrugged.

Lily stared at the fleeting figure of Albus for a moment as though contemplating something, before shrugging her shoulders, and deciding to let it go. They took a seat at the bay window across from each other as they stared out into the snow.

"I think we should take a short break from the Quidditch lessons," said Lily, looking out the window.

"What?" Scorpius's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"We spend a lot of time at the pitch, and less with each other," she murmured, and Scorpius smiled.

Over these couple of days, Lily had gotten considerably comfortable with Scorpius, and even started initiating affection. Due to the amount of time that they were spending together, they had gotten to know one another more than ever, and it had brought them much closer than they were before. It seemed official that they were going out, and one or two Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw girls — who had never even spoken to Lily — asked her if she was going out with him. Lily hadn't denied it, and decided to ignore their comments about him leaving her in a week itself. She knew better than that. He hadn't tried anything potentially concerning apart from kissing and holding hands. She was sure that Scorpius had done a lot more than that with the other girls, and him not having done the same with her was quite the relief. It assured her that she wasn't one of them.

Even so, they weren't even kissing that much (a little to her disappointment). Most of the time they spent in talking, and there was hardly any touching involved. It made Lily more comfortable towards him, but she wouldn't have minded a kiss or two. She hoped that Scorpius felt the same and wasn't making a move just out of respect for her. As much as she admired that, she did wish he didn't always be that way.

"So what do you suggest we do if not practice?" He asked, snapping Lily out of the thoughts of his lips against hers.

She blinked. "I don't know. We'll think of something." She shrugged.

"Alright umm, what are your thoughts about a swim in the lake?" He cocked a brow, smirking.

Lily's eyes went wide. "Are you serious? In this weather?" She exclaimed incredulously. How could he possibly think that they could swim in the lake when it was freezing out there?

"It could be fun!" He said childishly.

Lily gave him a flat look. "Sure, fun enough to render us with a cold that could very well freeze us to death."

"How about just a dip?" He urged. Lily scolded herself for having found him endearing due to the expression he held.

"How about you dip and I'll sit in the dorm and watch you."

"Oh, come on!" He said, exasperated.

"No, thank you." She rolled her eyes and stood up when an owl flew towards them and dropped an envelope onto Scorpius's lap before he could say anything.

He frowned and picked it up, about to open it when Albus's voice halted him in his movements. Albus came running towards them, huffing and puffing as he steadied himself by placing a hand on the wall beside Scorpius. He looked at the letter sceptically for a moment, and then turned to the pair of them stood before him. He had a terror-stricken expression and Lily started to worry as to what had happened.

"Grandma Molly," Albus panted, and Lily's eyes went wide in fear.

"What? What happened to her?"

Albus shut his eyes tightly for a long moment as he gathered his breath.

"Ascella," he breathed. "She inflicted her with the Cruciatus curse last night. She's about to...about to..."

"About to what?"

Lily's nerves began to rattle and Scorpius's hand instinctively shot up from his side to hold that of hers. Her fingers were drooping under his hold, but he did not loosen his grip on her.

"She won't survive for long," Albus finished, his eyes bloodshot.

Lily's knees quivered beneath her and she fell onto the bay window flaccidly. Scorpius wrapped his arms around her and sat beside her, pulling her into his chest. Her head fell onto his shoulder as she breathed unevenly, quietly, while Albus discreetly snuck the letter from the floor where it had fallen when Scorpius stood up.

"I've asked mum if we can go to St. Mungo's and see grandma," Albus said, looking down. "But I'm not sure if they'd let us leave Hogwarts under these circumstances."

Lily's body began to shake under Scorpius's hold as tears flooded down her eyes. Scorpius squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, tightening his hold on her and soothingly stroking her back.

"How did she get to St. Mungo's?" Scorpius asked. "Didn't they have security over there?"

"Apparently she breached through somehow," Albus said, taking a seat beside Scorpius on the bay window.

"This is nonsense! What are the Aurors doing? If its so easy for them to breach through all the protection then what is even the use of them boasting about their brilliant security!" Scorpius hissed angrily, while on the other hand he held Lily close as she wept, clutching his shirt.

Albus ran a hand through his hair, pushing it out of his eyes and held his head in his hands as he tried to push back the tears. Scorpius patted him on the back softly as though letting him know he was there.

"I'll go check on Rose," he muttered before staggering away from the courtyard and towards the Ravenclaw dormitory.

He took a short glance in the direction of Lily and Scorpius. Scorpius was hugging Lily tight as she cried. Albus squeezed his eyes shut as a tear escaped through his eyes, and dashed off to see Rose, whom he had left in a hysterical condition. She was probably still weeping outside the Ravenclaw common-room. Albus took a detour on his way, stopping beside the broom-closet as he pulled out the envelope from the pocket of his trousers. His hands were shaking as he gathered the courage to open the envelope. After his grandma having been harmed, there was no way Albus was going to let anything happen to Harry. This had only fuelled his determination to keep communicating with the Lestranges to find out what their next move was going to be.

As he unfolded the parchment, he struggled to read the contents through his moist eyes and shaky fingers.

 _To,_

 _S. Malfoy._

 _We have successfully put an end to the killer of Bellatrix Lestrange, and hope to destroy the rest of the family as well. There might be a small attack on Hogwarts in a while, so keep yourself safe, but if the children of Harry Potter are harmed, do not waste your breath to save them. We don't exactly aim to harm young ones, but only to warn that we are coming. There hasn't been any correspondence from your father, Draco Malfoy, and we wish to know of his whereabouts._

 _We have located the other Aurors, but Harry Potter is missing. If you have any information, do let us know._

 _Hail the Dark Lord._

 _L. Malfoy._

And just like that Albus's breath quickened.


	16. Chapter 16

**_Hi all! Apologies for this late update. I hope you guys find this one more eventful than the last. Only few more chapters to go! Keep the reviews coming. Thank you and happy reading :)_**

 **Unedited.**

 **Chapter 16**

Lucius Malfoy hadn't been lying when he mentioned in his letter that there was going to be an attack on Hogwarts. Sooner than Albus had imagined, the entire school had definitely heard the familiar cry of the likes of Bellatrix, from none other than her daughter Ascella. It resulted in sheer chaos amongst the occupants of the school. Upon hearing of these imminent attacks, many parents had decided not to send their kids back to school after the holidays, until the threat had gone. They had themselves been subjected to the wrath of Voldemort only twenty something years ago, and honestly didn't need any more trouble in their kids' lives. The select few who had returned towards the last couple of days of the holidays had been terrified to their cores when the attack happened.

Ascella had set fire to the Forbidden Forest, in the process burning down the entirety of Hagrid's hut. It was devastating to say the least, because the old and haggard Hagrid all but ended up weeping for his loss. All his things had been destroyed, and the wretched barks of a few trees had huge letters scribbled abut them, saying this,

 **Harry Potter has died. How long do you think you all will survive?**

It was followed by a shrill, echoing laughter that rung in the ears of everyone in the school. Headmistress Mcgonagall had effectively managed to extinguish the raging fire, but the harm had already been done. Many of the creatures in the Forbidden Forest had been gravely injured or burnt to crisp, including the centaurs who were now grumbling loudly in protest about there not being any kind of responsible protection around the school grounds in the absence of Dumbledore. Professor Mcgonagall was trying her best to reason with the centaurs, who were being quite the pain.

Lily and Scorpius were stood close to Hagrid, along with Albus, and Rose. Lily's friend Alice had returned to school along with her dad Neville, who was busy trying to calm a sobbing Hagrid down. Alice was coughing vigorously due to the smoke, owing to her allergy of the same, and Lily offered to escort her back to the great hall but she refused, saying that Hagrid needed all the support he could get. Scorpius was stood next to Lily, holding her hand as to let her know he was there, thinking that she would be more afraid now.

But it had the opposite effect on Lily. She had stopped being scared of these attacks a day after Grandma Molly's death. Lily was now angrier than ever, her nerves rattling inside of her as though she would strangle whichever enemy she sighted. But Scorpius didn't know that since she did a good job of concealing her emotions now. After hearing of two of her family members being dead, Lily's strength had only increased twofold. It was as though she would stop at nothing to fight the army of Mizar and Ascella, whenever they decided to attack. She was also training enough for the same. She and Rose had been secretly taking defence lessons from Headmistress Mcgonagall, who seemed quite enthusiastic to help them out, and also suggested that they gather more people who were interested.

Rose had silenced Lily when she had offered to ask Albus, saying that he didn't need to learn any defence spells since he was already good at them. To be honest to herself, Rose didn't want to include Albus mainly because he'd rather be busy in posing as Scorpius and communicating with the enemy (didn't matter what reason he had for the same). Her rage for him was soon clouded by the thoughts of learning new spells so more people wouldn't die. It had been about five days since the news of Molly's death arrived, and Ginny had strictly ordered the kids to stay put at Hogwarts and not attend the funeral. As much as it had angered them, the kids did not protest.

Scorpius didn't know of the secret lessons either because Rose had said to Lily not to tell him either, just so it didn't seem that she was excluding Albus for a special reason. Lily still doubted Rose's behaviour a bit, but decided not to question it, for they had more important matters at hand. He knew that something was up when Rose and Lily disappeared daily saying something about homework (he was aware that Lily had finished all of it already), but he kept his doubts to himself and instead focussed on getting the younger students to finish his own assignments —something he had always done.

"I really think you should go back inside," Lily said when Alice's coughing hadn't subsided even a bit. She shook her head in response.

Lily rolled her eyes and at that moment Lorcan skipped towards his girlfriend and stood in front of her with a reprimanding look.

"What are you doing out here?" He scowled, but spoke softly. "Aren't you aware that the smoke will cause you problems? Come back inside with me right now!"

He grabbed her hand and began to lead her away when she stood her ground, refusing to leave as she broke out into another fit of coughs.

"Alice, stop being so stubborn and listen to what he's saying," Lily scolded.

Alice then gave out an exasperated sigh and dropped her shoulders as Lorcan dragged her away, muttering something about her being so silly. Scorpius picked that moment to side towards Lily.

"You alright?" He asked, slinging an arm around her shoulder casually.

Lily looked up at him from where she had been sadly observing Hagrid being hugged awkwardly by Neville, who was trying his best to keep his arms steady onto the half-giant.

"I'm fine," Lily said, smiling slightly.

"This looks ghastly," he mumbled, sighing.

"The twins will stop at nothing to destroy us." Lily shook her head dejectedly, a slight fury building up inside of her, which she concealed.

"I just hope the Aurors are able to sort things out. We've got more protection to add now."

Just then, Headmistress Mcgonagall returned from where she had been talking to the centaurs about providing them quarters in the school since their home had been rather ruined for longer than they'd like to believe. The centaurs had refused, of course, unwilling to take help from humans, and Mcgonagall had walked off defeated.

"Professor," said Lily when Mcgonagall got closer. "Is there any way we can help Hagrid?"

Mcgonagall sighed. "I don't suppose anything can be done apart from comforting him. The man has faced enough for his age."

The wrinkles upon her face were more prominent now than ever, and Lily noticed how tired she looked. She had aged, of course, and she had obviously seen enough for her age as well. Hagrid wasn't alone. All the old professors were getting exhausted with time passing. They had fought valiantly in the last war, and the imminent one was only making them want to give up. After all, Voldemort had caused enough harm to all of them, and nobody needed this trauma at the moment. It had been twenty years, but the memory was still fresh in everyone's minds.

Lily gave a nod in response, turning to gaze at what remained of Hagrid's home.

"Get back into the school, everyone!" Mcgonagall roared. Nobody spoke a word of protest and followed her back in the direction of the school.

Neville escorted Hagrid with the help of Albus after the other students had gone a bit forward. Lily and Scorpius walked side by side amid the group of students and professors, all chattering softly about everything that was going on. Mostly they were discussing about Harry's death. They all did believe that it could well be true, but Albus knew that none of it was. He knew that Harry was alive, and the fact that he was with Draco somewhere was a bit of a shock for him. If anything were to happen to Draco, Albus's plan would go to waste. But seeing as the Lestranges had believed that the Malfoys were on their side, Albus doubted whether they'd harm Draco. And if they did not harm Draco, they wouldn't have gotten around doing anything to Harry either.

Halfway through their walk towards the school, Scorpius pulled Lily aside and led her to the lakeside. Lily quietly followed, thinking that he might want to spend some time with her since she had been rather busy with the defence lessons with Rose and Mcgonagall.

"I'm sorry we haven't been able to take our Quidditch lessons," he said when they sat under the beech tree, with their backs comfortably resting on the bark.

"It's not your fault," Lily said, resting her head on his shoulder. "Circumstances have been such."

"I know, but I'm sure you could use a few more techniques."

Lily lifted her head and smiled at him, his concern being a cause of her affection only increasing. She raised her hand and rested it on his cheek, softly placing a kiss on the other one. Scorpius smiled.

"You've helped me enough to prepare me for the selections next year," said she. "I can learn more techniques once I'm part of the team."

Scorpius sighed and kissed her forehead, and she let it fall back onto his shoulder as she slid her arm into that of his.

"I'm certain they'll select you in a heartbeat."

"You're more confident about me than I am."

"It's because I know how good you are."

Lily didn't respond and just enjoyed the warmth of him as they stared at the frozen lake. They had hardly spent much time together, and the limited amount that they did, it was always in the presence of other people. When they got to be with each other alone, they chose not to talk much and let the comfortable silence linger about while soaking in each other's presence.

"Do you think this war will separate us?" Lily asked after a while of silence.

Scorpius lifted his head from the top of that of hers, and gave her a quizzical look.

"Why do you say that?" He frowned.

Lily gave a shrug. "I don't know. I just feel as though either one of us might—"

"Don't say it," he cut her off. "But maybe what you feel isn't entirely wrong. Anything could happen. Although I'd rather not think about the possibility of losing you, the odds might not be in our favour."

Lily looked at him and realized how fast she had started to like everything about him. She could hardly think of a single thing that didn't increase her affection towards him. Everything he did and everything he said only made her heart swell, and she knew that it would destroy her if she was to lose him. And she knew it would do the same to him. He had only proved how he felt for her time and time again, and Lily had not a smidge of a doubt that he would be treating her as another one of his short-term girlfriends. She didn't know how long they were going to last given this war, but as long as they had together, she decided to make the best of it.

She lifted her head again and gazed at him lovingly, her eyes going a bit moist as she said what she was about to.

"Don't die on me, Malfoy."

Scorpius smiled. "I won't if you won't, Potter."

With that he kissed her, and every engagingly saddening thought about the looming dangers vanished from her mind when she returned his kiss putting in all that she had. The glimmering sun lighted up the area as snow fell atop them slowly, chilling their skin and warming it at the same time, washing away all of the distressing thoughts.

Lily and Scorpius may have momentarily forgotten about the threats, but the rest of the school hadn't. It was all there, consciously dancing about in their heads as though a hammer was being smashed continuously on the inside of their skulls. The feeling of fear creeping in, one that years ago their parents had felt when Voldemort was coming to attack; one that the same professors had felt when they were gathering their strength to fight. But was there enough strength left in them to fight again?

Nobody knew. They were all seated in the great hall, waiting for the term to begin the next day so they could distract themselves with academics. But they all knew that it wasn't enough. Nothing was enough when the fear of death hung upon their heads like a dangling sword that could fall any minute, slicing them into pieces. Hogwarts was no longer the safest place. Mcgonagall stood at the gates after everyone had gone in. She looked at the erect walls that had once fallen during the war, and she wondered how much longer it would take to build them up again. Voldemort might be dead, but his followers still remained like the small, unseen remains of a broken glass, ones that they hadn't been able to clean up.

Those remains were now piercing into the skin of their feet. Mizar and Ascella Lestrange were those unseen pieces of the broken glass that had somehow assembled together to hurt the innocents once again. Voldemort was a terror of such force that even years after his defeat, the effects of his doings were springing up. Mcgonagall gave a sigh of defeat, tired...fatigued, she dragged herself back into the castle, gripping her walking stick rather tightly as she went. Albus watched the old professor enter the great hall, from where he was seated beside his fellow Slytherins.

"She looks dreadful," Tom muttered from Albus's right.

"Don't we all." Albus sighed.

"All students will be in their dorms immediately after dark," announced Mcgonagall when she reached the end of the great hall. "Prefects will make sure that nobody is outside the castle without a supervising teacher along. The danger has increased, and it is our duty to keep you all safe. Your cooperation is all we need. I shall now ask the present prefects to take a look around the castle and outside to make sure nobody is left behind."

The prefects, along with a few teachers, scurried off and outside the great hall to assemble back anyone who had been left out. Rose searched for Scorpius and Lily, whom she hadn't seen after they left from Hagrid's hut. She gave Albus a curious look from the Ravenclaw table. Albus, knowing what she must be asking, gave a shrug in response since he wasn't aware of his best friend and his sister's location either. Mcgonagall announced later that the gates will be sealed when the prefects returned. Rose gave a panicked look to Albus, who was on his feet immediately. He rushed towards Mcgonagall to let her know that the two friends were missing.

But unknown to everyone, Scorpius and Lily had fallen asleep at the lakeside under the beech tree. They had dozed off somewhere between discussing about going back in. Sleep deprived and much too lazy to get up, the pair had fallen into a slumber. The prefects hadn't been able to locate them, and returned to the great hall soon. By that time, Mcgonagall had become a bit annoyed and worried at the same time, thinking where the two kids must have gone. In her opinion, this was no time for gazing into each other's eyes and confessing undying love. She muttered something about kids being immature as she instructed one of the Slytherin prefects to go look for the Malfoy kid and Lily Potter.

Albus left along with the prefect named Fabian, who was striding out the gates of the castle speedily. They looked everywhere from the Quidditch pitch to Hagrid's hut, but the pair weren't found. Suddenly it struck Albus that Lily loved to sit by the lake, and he hurriedly told Fabian about it. They made their way towards the lakeside, unaware that an owl was flying in a sleeping Scorpius's direction. The hooting of the owl had Lily's eyes shoot open and she shook Scorpius shoulders to wake him. The owl began to peck at Scorpius's feet, and he woke up drowsily surveying his surroundings.

Lily pulled the envelope from the owl's beak and began to read whom it was from when Albus's voice snapped her attention from behind them. Albus was panting and as was Fabian, who seemed rather irritated for having ran this far to fetch the happy couple as he had muttered moments ago. Albus was yet to take note of the envelope that Lily was holding. And he didn't get to see that she shoved it inside her coat pocket as she and Scorpius stood up. The owl fluttered away before Albus or Scorpius could notice.

"We have to go back to the castle, guys," Albus said, gasping for breath. "Mcgonagall is not pleased."

"What were you two doing here anyway?" Fabian barked. "Did it cross your petty brains that we're under attack?"

"Shut it, Fabian," Scorpius scowled. "I don't want to argue right now. Let's go."

Scorpius grabbed Lily's hand and the group left to return to the castle, Fabian grumbling about people being blithering idiots and Lily wondering what was in the letter. She had managed to read the sender's name. It was from Lucius Malfoy, that was for sure. But it shouldn't be her concern. It could well be a family matter that wasn't anything important to her. Though, Lily couldn't help but be curious as to what it could be. As far as she knew, Scorpius didn't talk to his grandfather, neither did Draco or Astoria. She decided to give it to Scorpius when they reached the great hall, but curiosity got the better of her, and she let it stay in her coat pocket.

They were all asked to return to their dorms until the evening, and Lily never got around to giving Scorpius the letter. Feeling ashamed of herself for invading his privacy this way, Lily sat on her bed in the empty dorm. The others were all in the common room but she had retreated to the dorm to decide what she would do. Lily pulled out the envelope, and came to a conclusion. She would give it to Scorpius when they met for dinner that evening. Pushing down her curiosity, she reluctantly shoved the envelope under her pillow and took a nap, thoughts of Lucius Malfoy's suspicious letter looming in her mind.


	17. Chapter 17

**_I apologize beforehand for any mistakes in the chapter. Also, thank you so much for the encouraging reviews :) They drove me to write more. Keep the reviews and the love coming. Thank you! Happy Reading :)_**

 **Unedited.**

 **Chapter 17**

 _Slytherin common-room_

 _9:55 pm_

Albus Severus Potter was pacing. He had spent the past half an hour doing the same. His fingers were clasped together before him, clutching one another as though they were the only source of life. His head was throbbing vigorously as though someone was meticulously slamming it onto a wall. Lucius Malfoy hadn't responded to his letter. It had already been a week since he sent the last letter, and Albus wasn't getting any less worried. In fact, he was scared that Scorpius himself might have received it since the owl would obviously seek the one the letter was addressed to.

It was only that Albus had kept a close watch on when the owl arrived so he was always somewhere close to Scorpius. Luckily, Scorpius hadn't realized that the letters were for him. Since the owl was familiar with Albus, it didn't protest in handing the letter to him. So far, it had worked in his favour but now, Albus didn't know what to do.

Had Lucius or Mizar realized that it wasn't Scorpius who was sending those letters? Had someone intercepted those letters and were taking undue advantage of the same? Had the owl been injured...captured? Had his letter not reached Lucius Malfoy? Albus couldn't rest. He continued pacing. The common-room was otherwise empty apart from one or two third-years chattering about. But they knew better than to mess with one of the popular pranksters of the school. Nobody bothered Albus, but if his throbbing head and pacing heart was any indication, Scorpius would surely question him if he saw him this way.

Guilt coursed through him like a needle piercing itself into his skin. He was being the worst friend anyone had ever encountered. Running a frustrated hand through his hair and almost pulling it roughly, Albus plopped down on the futon and rested his elbows on his knees.

When was the letter going to arrive? He sat in the common-room gazing at the fire as the clock ticked away in the distance.

 _Gryffindor common-room_

 _1:00 am_

Lily Luna Potter was sweating. With bloodshot eyes and a furiously racing heart, she sat on her bed, clutching the sheets in her hands. All the girls were asleep in the dorm, but through the moonlight entering from the windows, Lily could see the brownish envelope sticking out from under her pillow. She had never gotten around to giving Scorpius the letter that had come from Lucius Malfoy. And the night she tucked it under the pillow, nightmares had started to play a battle in her mind...a battle that she was quickly losing. Three days had passed since she had procrastinated about giving the letter to Scorpius. Something inside her so determinedly told her that it wasn't good news; that the letter held something grave. The feeling was eating her on the inside, and she couldn't shake it away hard as she tried.

This time the nightmare had been about Scorpius turning into a fire-breathing snake, destroying everything and everyone in its wake. Previously she had had nightmares of Lucius Malfoy attacking Harry, and a moment later Lucius became Scorpius. Then there had also been a Death Eater who struck her with the Cruciatus Curse, and when his mask wore off, it was Scorpius again. Every nightmare ended with Scorpius...a Scorpius that she didn't recognize. And it was starting to frighten her. Even when she saw him in the great hall, during classes, during Quidditch practice...every time she would shudder thinking that those nightmares would become real.

The letter was haunting her every now and then, and her fingers itched to open it...to just read a few lines of it...maybe re-seal it after and give it to Scorpius. But would that not be rude? She was invading his privacy. What that letter contained was none of her business, but why was Lily so eager to find out what it held? Why was this feeling gnawing at her insides, as though it wouldn't go away until she had read it? Maybe she could give the letter to Scorpius and ask him to read it out himself so she wouldn't have to go behind his back and read it. But that would make him suspicious, and he'd not trust her anymore. Would she trust him if he did that to her?

Perhaps she could just open it. Scorpius wouldn't know that a letter had arrived for him. But what if he had written to Lucius and he was replying? Lily nearly groaned in frustration. She flopped down on the bed again, burying her face into the pillow and almost biting off the side of her thumb. The letter was right next to her fingertips...asking her to read it. Lily shook her head. She couldn't do it. She couldn't do this to Scorpius. Breathing deeply, she turned her head to the other side and shut her eyes tightly, hoping she could sleep. She would give him the letter tomorrow. She surely would.

But when another nightmare occurred and Lily shot up again, she ran out of the dorm and into the common-room, struggling to catch her breath. The envelope was clutched in her hand at her side, shaking...trembling. She could no longer hold herself back. Nearing the fireplace and collapsing before it, Lily ripped open the envelope. Her heart raced even faster, her breath quickened to a pace unknown and she unfolded the parchment, leaning on the wall beside the fireplace so she could read its contents under the light of the flames.

Her eyes continued to widen as she read each word and by the time she was done, Lily was ready to collapse on the floor. And collapse she did.

 _The Great Hall_

 _11:30 am_

Scorpius Malfoy was tapping his right foot on the floor in anticipation. Mcgonagall had summoned all the students in the great hall to instruct them about the altered time-tables for the rest of the term. There was silence in the hall and everyone was busy listening to Mcgonagall. But Scorpius had hardly listened to a single word she had said. His mind was occupied. Lily hadn't shown up this morning, and after asking Alice as to where she was, he had found out that Lily wasn't feeling well, and was going to stay in the dorm for the day. But Scorpius didn't believe it. Something was wrong, he could feel it. He wanted to see Lily and make sure she was okay. Or perhaps make sure that this feeling would go away and that it was just a feeling, and nothing real.

But how was he to see her unless she left the dorm? It wasn't as though she needed to go to the hospital wing, she wasn't that unwell. She was probably just sleep deprived and exhausted after all of the studying that she had been doing along with Rose. Scorpius wished he could ask Rose to go and check in on her. She would be worried, right? Perhaps he could just ask Alice again, he had already done that about five times already since this morning. Her answer wasn't going to change. Besides, due to the packed schedule of the classes she hadn't been able to return to the dorm at all. The only way to know was when the classes ended and they could go back to the dorms.

Maybe Scorpius could borrow Albus's invisibility cloak to sneak in through the Gryffindor common-room and see her. He did know the password anyway. He sighed, not being able to concentrate on anything. His attention was snapped from the book he was pretending to read, when an owl descended towards Albus and dropped an envelope on the table. Scorpius, who was seated beside Albus, glanced at the envelope that had James's name as the sender. Albus quickly ripped it open and unfolded the parchment, only to nearly jump in joy as he read its contents.

The occupants of the otherwise silent great hall were all now looking at him since he had let out a strange squeal as though he was concealing his happiness. It sounded like a mouse squeaking. Mcgonagall was also looking at Albus, who sheepishly straightened himself and sobered up. Scorpius looked at his best friend bemusedly.

"Is there something more important than the school time-table, Mr. Potter?" Mcgonagall asked curiously, with a hint of snide in her tone.

"Umm no, professor. I'm sorry," Albus mumbled, a little embarrassed seeing everyone could hear him in the silence.

"Very well," Mcgonagall eyed Albus suspiciously for a moment before resuming her speech.

Scorpius nudged Albus in the rib to get his attention.

"What is it?" He whispered, gesturing to the letter that Albus was folding back.

"Dad's alive!" Albus whispered back, and Scorpius nearly hugged him in happiness.

The relief that this news had caused him was something he couldn't explain even to himself. Excitement bubbled inside of him, the previous feeling of dread washing away, as he wondered how Lily would react once she found out. Scorpius was certain that all her illness would disappear immediately the moment she heard this good news. He couldn't wait to personally tell her. Or perhaps Albus would like to tell his sister, but nevertheless, Scorpius would get to see the happiness on her face; one that he hadn't really gotten to see in a while.

"You have to tell Rose and Lily!" Scorpius said once Mcgonagall was done and chatter broke out.

"Yes, I'm going to go tell Rose right now. Also Alice so she can tell Lily." Albus nodded happily and got up to go to Rose at the Ravenclaw table.

Albus could hardly feel anything else apart from the euphoria that was setting his nerves alight. His dad was alive. He was alive! And he was safe, as James had said in the letter. George and the other Aurors had successfully found Draco and Harry in a remote village of Scotland where they had been hiding. The Aurors had made a plan as to separate and go to different places so as to locate the twins and the supposed army. Draco and Harry had left for the Ministry of Magic where they were to inform the Minister first before they continued on their journey, but on the way, they had spotted a young Death Eater named Antonio, whom they trailed after for a while. Somewhere on the way they were attacked by a few Death Eaters, and Harry had pretended to be dead just to distract them from a fleeing Draco.

The Death Eaters, thinking that he was dead, left and gave the news to Mizar and Ascella, the latter then decided to terrorize Harry's family with the information. However, Lucius had found out through his own sources that Draco and Harry were alive and in hiding. After Molly's funeral, George had left with the other Aurors to look for Harry, and now they were all together at the Ministry of Magic, preparing a plan with the Minister to avoid the imminent war.

Albus couldn't wipe the smile from his face as he delivered the news to Rose who tackled him into a hug out of happiness. She then proceeded to grab Alice from the Gryffindor table and the two rushed to the Gryffindor common-room to find Lily.

"Lily! Lily, wake up! We have great news!" Rose said as she shook Lily awake gently.

Drowsily, Lily opened her eyes and frowned, blinking to adjust her surroundings. When Rose told Lily what Albus had said, she nearly fell off of the bed in surprise. Momentarily, she forgot that she was still clutching the letter in her hands...the one that had come from Lucius Malfoy for Scorpius. She made up an excuse of wanting to rest for a while due to the mild fever, and Rose, not suspecting anything because of her happiness, left Lily on her own.

The moment Rose walked out, Alice came back into the dorm and sat beside Lily on the bed.

"Are you done pretending that you have a fever just so you can avoid him?" asked Alice.

"What are you talking about?" Lily defensively averted her eyes. She knew that Alice was telling the truth, but couldn't gather up the courage to face it herself.

"What happened, Lily? He's been asking about you all morning. Whatever has happened between you two, it surely doesn't seem like he knows that you're upset. Why are you avoiding him?"

Lily sighed, unable to keep it in any longer. She sat up, pushing the covers off of her and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"He's been asking about me, has he?" She asked, scoffing towards the end.

Alice frowned.

"What is going on?"

Lily looked at her clenched fist; the one that contained the letter. She contemplated whether to show it to Alice. It would surely relieve her of some of the pain. But was it the right thing to do? Lily then muttered something incoherent to herself and looked at Alice through her puffy eyes. She had spent most of the morning crying after she was taken back to her bed from where she had passed out in the common-room. People only thought that she had a fever, she was burning up a bit in the morning anyway. But a potion from Madam Pomfrey had alerted her senses enough to cure her.

She had been asked to rest nevertheless. And rest she did, for she needed it. She needed time to herself to figure out what she was going to do. After everyone had gone to the great hall, Lily spent her time crying and nearly screaming as she read the letter over and over again to make sure she hadn't read it wrong. But it was right there...the truth, in her hands. Now, Lily didn't care if anyone found out. At least Alice would help her think what she should do next.

"Do you promise not to tell anyone?" She said to Alice.

"I promise."

Taking a deep breath, Lily handed the crumpled letter to Alice, who unfolded it and scrunched up her eyebrows as she read its contents.

 _To,_

 _S. Malfoy._

 _The army has been gathered. They will be attacking soon. Mizar has expressed a desire to see you personally, but since you are at Hogwarts at the moment, the only safe place to meet would be at Hogsmeade. Revert and let us know when it is possible for you to have an audience with him. He wishes to prepare you for the battle that is going to take place soon. If any fellow purebloods wish to join us, they are welcome to do so. They may accompany you to the meeting._

 _The clock is ticking. Soon, there will only be purebloods in the wizarding world. All others will be killed. Harry Potter and his family will be killed. The fact that you are working for us while with the Potters has been advantageous. Mizar might have attacked your father if not. Since you mentioned that it would be suspicious for Draco to contact us while he is with Harry Potter, we haven't attempted to contact him either. Further correspondence will be through you._

 _Awaiting your response._

 _Hail the Dark Lord._

 _L. Malfoy._


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Lily didn't know that it would be so difficult to stand the sight of him. Never had she resented Scorpius Malfoy more than she did now. His striking eyes gazing into that of hers didn't give her the warmth that they once did. His face masked with concern didn't make her feel relieved. His touch that once made her nerves tingle only made her flinch away from him now. She couldn't stand there before him without thinking about how he had betrayed her trust...how he had betrayed everyone's trust. What was she thinking? Trusting a Malfoy; they didn't have as good of a history now, did they? Then how come she ended up putting her faith in him, and how come she let her resolve weaken this way?

Traitors; that was what Malfoys were. They weren't a trustworthy lot. It was in their blood to betray people. The Malfoys were Death Eaters, and that's all they'd ever be. Lily should have known better than to be with someone of that lineage. She hated herself for being with him. She hated herself for trusting him...for being so naive. But most of all, she hated the sight of Scorpius Malfoy.

Scorpius, on the other hand, was completely oblivious to what Lily was feeling. He was stood at the gates of the great hall, waiting for her to come down today since she had taken a day off. He was longing to see her, ask her how she was, ask her if she was feeling better after a day of resting...and tell her how worried he had been about her. The smile on his face — as he watched her descend the stairs with Alice — vanished when he noticed the expression she held. It was something he had never seen before. It almost felt like she didn't want to look at him, the way she was avoiding his gaze. She had stopped at the stairs momentarily when she spotted him, but quickly averted her eyes and began talking to Alice.

Scorpius opened his mouth to say something to her when she neared him at the gates, but his words caught in his throat as he saw her brush past her as though he wasn't there at all. A tinge of hurt ran through Scorpius but he pushed it away, thinking that she might not have seen him after all. But he knew she had, he just wanted to avoid knowing what made her ignore him this way. He sprinted over to her as she was walking towards the Gryffindor table. Placing his hand on her shoulder, he tried to grab her attention by calling her name, but Lily only turned around to shrug his hand off of her and then without a word, impassively, walked away.

Scorpius frowned. What was wrong with Lily? Why was she acting this way? Had he done something to anger her? Is that why she took a day off? With a fleeting look in Lily's direction, Scorpius left to join Albus at the table. He disappointedly took his seat and stared at the breakfast before him that suddenly seemed inedible. Albus, who was busy chatting with others and laughing, hardly paid any attention to his best friend's condition. Scorpius spent the rest of the hour taking glances at Lily who seemed to be far too involved in talking to Alice, and she didn't even steal a single glance in his direction.

Scorpius decided to talk to her later after classes. Gingerly, he chewed down breakfast, his appetite suddenly lost. He could hardly gulp down anything, and when it was time for the Potions class, Scorpius left the table without so much as a glance at Albus, who followed after him with the others. Albus caught up with a marching Scorpius and walked beside him, observing the scowl that he held.

"What's up, mate?" Albus probed.

"Nothing," Scorpius muttered distractedly, striding past Albus and into the Potions classroom.

Frowning, Albus followed after him as he shrugged, not quite bothered about what was wrong with his best friend. He was much too happy about the fact that his father was alive and well. He'd hardly dwelled over not having received a response from Lucius Malfoy yet. As of now, he didn't want to think of that. The letter would arrive when it had to arrive. All that mattered was that Harry was alive. Albus couldn't care any less.

Scorpius spent the entire Potions hour in making horrible mistakes in the notes that he was taking. His mind was elsewhere, worrying about why Lily was acting the way she was. His wavering attention rendered in him getting a detention. Yet all he could think about was Lily. A few doors away in the Arithmancy classroom, Lily was busy taking down notes vigorously. She didn't let herself think even a bit about Scorpius. Keeping her attention solely focussed on what was being taught, Lily spent the rest of the hour scribbling in her notebook, and successfully pushing the thoughts of Scorpius out of her mind.

When the day ended and everyone was asked to go back to their common-rooms, Lily snuck away from Scorpius's view and rushed to the Gryffindor common-room. She heard him call out her name and even follow her up to a distance, but Lily didn't turn. She was waiting for a response from her mother. The previous night, she had written to Ginny to let everyone know that the Malfoys were traitors and that they weren't to be trusted. Draco being with the rest of the Aurors was a great disadvantage, and Lily feared for the life of her dad again. There was no way she was going to let anything happen to him again. Just the thought of losing him gave her chills.

Lily had discussed this the previous night with Alice, who was so enraged that she was ready to plummet Scorpius to death. Lily had to calm her down and tell her that it wasn't the right way to deal with this situation. She then wrote to Ginny, informing her of the situation, and told Alice that the adults would handle how to deal with Draco Malfoy. Scorpius would be stopped involuntarily. She was yet to decide how to avoid him. Perhaps he'd realize that she knew what he had been doing behind their backs and then back off, and stop bothering her. What else could there be done anyway? It was his last year and then he would be out of Hogwarts for good. Lily wouldn't have to deal with him then.

She sat in the common-room with Alice, wondering as to how she was going to avoid him. Scorpius, who was walking back dejectedly to the Slytherin common-room, hardly had any idea what was coming. Irritably, he sat on the sofa and stared up at the ceiling, trying to drown out the sounds of everyone chatting. He hadn't seen Albus since after Potions, and wanted to ask him what was up with Lily, if he had any idea that is. Sighing, Scorpius decided to take a short nap to calm his nerves, and then try to figure out what had made Lily act so strange.

When they gathered in the great hall in time for dinner, Scorpius tried to talk to Lily again, only to be ignored. A bit irate as to what was going on, Scorpius trudged over to the Ravenclaw table and asked Rose if he could talk to her. Confused, Rose stood up and followed him to a corner.

"Lily isn't talking to me," he said to Rose, coming straight to the point. He had no interest in beating around the bush.

A bit taken aback, Rose frowned.

"She isn't? That's strange. Did you do something stupid?" She raised an eyebrow, thinking that he might have flirted with some girl to infuriate Lily.

"I don't even know what I've done!" Scorpius hissed. "If only she'd talk to me..."

"So what do you want me to do?" She asked, crossing her arms across her chest.

Scorpius sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Could you find out why she's acting like this? Please?"

Rose contemplated whether to accept his request, and then let out a breath.

"Fine. You owe me for this, Malfoy."

Scorpius nodded and they took their separate ways. Rose strode over to the Gryffindor table and took a seat beside Lily.

"I've hardly spoken to you after I gave you the news of Uncle Harry being alright," she said.

"I thought you were too busy with your studying." Lily shrugged.

Rose noticed that she sounded a bit off, not the usual chirpy self that she was when Rose talked to her.

"Are you feeling okay now?"

"Quite so." Lily gave a small smile.

The disinterested response made Rose even more curious as to what had gotten into the usually happy Lily. At least after knowing that Harry was alive and well she should've been her blabbering self.

"So, what's up with you and Malfoy?" Rose asked as though testing the waters.

"What do you mean?" Lily suddenly straightened up a bit uncomfortably, which made Rose more determined to know what was going on.

"Well, to be direct, he says you've been avoiding him."

Lily sighed, not knowing what to say to Rose. Could she tell her the truth? Was it the right thing to do? Why shouldn't she tell Rose anyway? She deserved to know. Everyone else was going to find out soon.

"I'll tell you after dinner before we go for the private lessons with Mcgonagall."

Rose gave a nod of understanding before getting up and returning to the Ravenclaw table. Scorpius watched her from across the hall hopefully. She gestured him to keep his patience for a while and sat down to have dinner. Scorpius made a face and went back to talking with his fellow Slytherins. Waiting was all he could do for now. Towards the end of dinner, Rose and Lily made a beeline towards the broom closet. All the students were expected to be in the dorms right after dinner, so they didn't have enough time to spare. Rose and Lily finished eating earlier than the others, so it bought them some time to talk.

Lily was a bit sceptical about telling Rose, but she was bound to find out eventually. What was the point in hiding? Besides, after everything that she had told her about Scorpius and the enthusiasm that she had of Lily being with him was only indication enough that Rose should know this. She needed to know what kind of a traitorous monster Scorpius Malfoy really was. When the pair reached the broom closet where nobody was present apart from Peeves loitering around cackling to himself about something, Lily stole a look to make sure they weren't being overheard.

"I found out something about Scorpius," Lily said, inwardly shuddering at the thought of Scorpius really having done something like that.

Rose frowned momentarily, and then realization hit her like a bucket of ice-cold water splashing upon her. Lily might have found out about those letters like Albus intended for her to. But that wasn't supposed to happen unless and until Albus told her himself. Had he told her already? Is that why he looked so happy these days? Rose's heartbeat began to race. She feared the worst. Something bad was about to happen. And Lily only confirmed her doubts when she asked what it was.

"He received a letter from Lucius Malfoy, and it said that the army was ready and that he wants Scorpius to meet with Mizar Lestrange at Hogsmeade. Scorpius was in on the whole thing from the start. All the Malfoys were. Scorpius only got closer to us so he could be their informer. Even his father is working for the Death Eaters. I wrote to mum and told her about this so they can deal with Draco Malfoy."

Rose had the urge to go and slap Albus across the face. He had ruined everything. He had gotten what he wanted. Lily didn't trust Scorpius anymore, and since Lily had told the others about this matter, they wouldn't trust Draco Malfoy either. He would be wrongly reprimanded. Merlin only knew what they would do once they found out that Draco was a supposed traitor when the entire Malfoy family was only being nice to them. Rose began to see everything fall apart before her, and she couldn't bear to see it happen.

She had to tell Lily. She had to tell him what Albus had done. She didn't care that he would tell Lily about her and Scorpius. There was no way Rose was going to let Albus get away with it. She didn't care about the consequences of what she was about to say would be. All she could think of was the Malfoys being done wrong to. What if Draco was repelled by this and he actually became enemies with them again? What if he would really go and join the Lestranges? That couldn't happen. Rose could not let that happen. It was now or never. She had to tell Lily.

"Lily," Rose began, letting out a shaky breath. "You need to know something."

Lily frowned at the lack of shock that Rose revealed. She had expected Rose to be mad like Alice and threaten to kill Scorpius but none of that had happened. Instead, Rose looked anything but shocked. She only seemed a bit nervous and jittery. But before she could ask, Rose began to talk.

"What you've found out is a lie. None of it is true. Malfoy is not a traitor."

"What?"

"Let me complete." Rose held Lily by the arm gently. "Those letters weren't sent by him. Albus sent those posing as Malfoy. He wanted to find out what was going on with the Lestranges and there was no other way besides posing as Malfoy. They're not traitors, Lily." Rose gripped her cousin's hand tighter now. There was a look of complete horror across Lily's face. She couldn't comprehend as to what Rose was saying. Was she out of her mind? Why would Albus write those letters to Lucius Malfoy?

"What rubbish are you talking, Rose?!" Lily looked at her bewildered.

"I'm telling the truth, Lily, you have to believe me. I know this. I know what Albus was doing, I heard him and James talk about it. I swear I'm telling the truth. Malfoy is not a traitor. He doesn't even know what's going on!"

"Really, Rose? I didn't think you were that in love with Scorpius to have blamed me for something he's doing. Far too desperate, aren't you?"

Rose whipped around to find Albus stood behind her. He held a murderous look. He strode towards them, all the while glaring at Rose. Rose's nerves rattled. She was so enraged that she wanted to beat him until he pleaded for mercy.

"I didn't think you'd do something like that to separate Lily and Scorpius," he hissed. "Betraying your cousin like this...just so you can get the man that she is with...you're really sinking low, aren't you, Rosie?"

The snide in his tone made Rose want to snap his neck. Lily was stood there completely perplexed as to what was happening. What was Albus saying? Rose was in love with Scorpius? How was that possible? She hated him. She had always hated Malfoy.

"Albus, what—?" Lily looked at him, baffled.

"She's lying, Lily." Albus turned to her. "She's been in love with Scorpius the whole time. She knew that he was communicating with the Lestranges and just so he doesn't get into any trouble, she's telling you that it was me."

Lily didn't know what and whom to believe. She didn't know which of the two was telling the truth. Both of them were her siblings. Though she did have a reason to believe Rose since she he had always hated Scorpius. Her being in love with him was as ludicrous as Peeves not being afraid of the Bloody Baron.

"Albus, what are you saying?" said Lily. "Rose hates Scorpius."

"And do you know the reason behind this hatred?" He asked, glaring hard at Rose.

Rose's temper was rising by the minute, and it was so high that she couldn't contemplate as to what she could say to Albus to shut him up. She was going out of her mind, standing there, fuming. All that was left was smoke coming out of her ears.

"Because his father called Aunt Hermione a mudblood?" Lily said, a bit unsure of it herself.

Albus scoffed.

"That is nearly not reason enough to hate Scorpius. Come on, Lily. I thought you were smarter than that."

Lily looked at him, still puzzled.

"The truth is, dear sister, that Rose has been smitten with Scorp for a few years now. They once kissed a couple years ago, but since he didn't return the affection, she began to hate his guts. But apparently she's still in love with him because she's trying to save him from getting into trouble for being a traitor."

Lily's heart sank. Rose and Scorpius had kissed? She couldn't believe it. She turned to look at Rose, who had visibly slumped. All the anger that had risen in the previous few minutes had now been replaced with utter dread. Her eyes became moist, she felt as though her heart stopped momentarily, and then her fingers begun to tremble at her sides.

"Rose?" Lily breathed, her heart hammering inside her chest at the possibility of Rose and Scorpius having been together.

Rose didn't respond and blankly stared at the floor, unable to look Lily in the eye. She couldn't deny the truth. She couldn't lie to Lily's face.

"Rose..." Lily repeated, hesitantly grabbing Rose's arm to get her attention. "Is this true?"

Rose was yet to respond. Lily was getting impatient. She shook Rose by the arm a bit too roughly.

"Is this true, Rose? Tell me. Is it true you kissed Scorpius?"

Lily's eyes began to water as she even said those words. Could Rose really have done this to her? And even if she had...why hadn't she told her before? Lily wouldn't have been nearly as hurt had she found out from Rose herself.

"Won't you answer Lily's question, Rose?" Albus said. That triggered a reaction in Rose, and she instinctively raised her hand and slapped him across the cheek.

"You're a monster, Albus," she hissed menacingly, slapping him once again as anger built up inside his. He was about to strike when Lily stood in between them.

"Enough!" She hollered. "Stop it, both of you!"

"You want to know the truth, Lily?" Rose snarled, tears brimming her eyes as she shot daggers in Albus's direction. "Yes, I kissed Malfoy. Yes, he didn't respond and yes I started to hate him since then. But I don't hate him nearly enough to let this monster get away with what he's doing. He is the traitor. Not Malfoy." She spat. "And I hope you have sense enough to figure out which of us is telling the truth, because I sure as hell know that I am!"

With that, Rose took off and disappeared up the stairs, leaving Albus and Lily stood outside the broom closet.

"Lily, you can't believe her. Do you really think I would do something like that?" Albus said defensively, hoping that Lily hadn't believed what Rose had said.

Lily looked at Albus, searching the truth in his eyes. She was still just as perplexed as to who was telling the truth. She didn't know whom to believe. Of course this revelation about Scorpius and Rose had shaken her to the core, but there was a certain kind of determination in Rose's eyes that Lily hadn't missed...one that Albus didn't seem to have.

"I need some space," she mumbled and walked away from the broom-closet and to Mcgonagall's office where they were to meet for the defence lessons.

Rose was probably not going to join, but Lily needed time to think, and defence lessons would prove helpful is what Lily figured. She knocked on the Headmistress's door and it opened shortly to let her in. Mcgonagall was sitting in her chair behind the desk going through some parchments.

"Ah, Miss Potter," she said, looking up with a small smile. "Where's Miss Weasley?"

"She's...not feeling well. It'll just be me today, professor."

"Very well," said Mcgonagall. She stood up and began to say something when a figure emerged from the fireplace.

Lily and Mcgonagall snapped their heads in the direction. Ginny was stood there, dusting off her clothes and she was followed by Hermione who emerged from the fireplace as well.

"Lily, oh good, you're here," Ginny breathed, rushing up to her daughter and pulling her into an embrace.

A bit puzzled, Lily hugged her mother back.

"Mum, what are you doing here?" She asked.

"I received your letter," said Ginny. "You said Scorpius was communicating with the Lestranges?"

Lily nodded.

"What is going on?" Mcgonagall asked.

"Lily said she has found out that Scorpius Malfoy has been corresponding with the Death Eaters. He's been their insider and so has Draco Malfoy," said Hermione.

"What? Are you sure, Miss Potter?"

"I think so..." Lily trailed off.

"Well, we think you might be right," Ginny said.

Lily raised her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

They all sat on the sofas opposite to Mcgonagall's desk.

"After we received your letter, we found out something more about the Lestranges," said Ginny.

"And what would that be?" Asked Mcgonagall.

"Remember the twin called Ascella?"

Lily and Mcgonagall gave a nod.

Ginny sighed. "Well, it turns out...there is no twin."


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Scorpius Malfoy had never been hit with this horrible wave of nausea. It seemed as though his vision couldn't be any hazier, blood couldn't be boiling any more than it already was, and his head couldn't be spinning at a faster rate. The news had hit him like a punch in the gut. He was staring ahead into nothingness as though he'd never speak or move again. He was surrounded by people in Mcgonagall's office, but all of them were a blur to him. All of them...even Lily. He couldn't bear to see the look of hurt on Lily's face. It had been there the moment he arrived to Mcgonagall's office. And it bothered him a lot.

"You're being suspended, Mr. Malfoy," Mcgonagall had said. "On the grounds of associating with the army of Death Eaters led by Mizar Lestrange."

For a long moment, Scorpius had stood there stunned into silence. He had looked back and forth between Lily and Mcgonagall, trying to comprehend the situation. He could hardly understand what was going on, but when a crumpled piece of parchment was shoved into his hands, he had the sudden urge to go and hex someone. The handwriting was far too familiar, one that wasn't his, but of someone he knew very well. After reading through the contents of the letter, he had looked at Lily again. She had turned away.

Now, he was rushing out of Mcgonagall's office and towards the Slytherin common-room with anger boiling inside of him. Furiously, he entered through the door to find Albus seated on the sofa with a few other Slytherin's whom he was laughing and joking with. Scorpius marched up to Albus and grabbed him by the collar to pull him up to his level.

"You'll regret this, Potter," he said, fuming, as he shoved the letter into Albus's hand. Before Albus would contemplate as to what was happening, Scorpius was out of the common-room with his trunk and other belongings following him outside.

He looked at the letter, read through the contents and fell onto the sofa again, blank. The others asked him what was wrong, but Albus could hardly pay attention to what had just gone down. Realization sunk into him, and his head began to throb. He had never seen Scorpius this angry, and he was afraid that something grave was going to happen. Would he really go and see Mizar Lestrange at Hogsmeade? Albus could only wonder.

But Scorpius was on a mission to get himself as far away from Hogwarts as possible. He had left the school grounds and was now headed towards Hogsmeade. From there, he'd apparate to Malfoy Manor, where Lucius and Mizar had taken refuge after the rest of them had left before Christmas. His anger had hardly subsided when he reached the gates of Malfoy Manor, but somehow, Scorpius gathered his breath and tried to calm his mind. There were things to be done, and he couldn't be seen in such a state for that.

When he entered through the gates and was frisked by the guards stood there, Scorpius nearly hexed them for keeping him this long. The moment he was allowed to pass through, he slammed open the doors and marched in to find Lucius seated on a chair, talking in a soft voice with someone unfamiliar. Upon hearing the sound of someone, Lucius whipped his head around towards Scorpius. A smile lit up his face.

"Good evening, Scorpius," he said in a silken yet vicious tone.

"Good evening, grandfather," Scorpius answered, trying to sound just as soft despite his underlying feelings.

"I remember writing to you about meeting at Hogsmeade. But I see you've come packed."

Lucius Malfoy didn't stand up, but sat in his chair lazily as he watched his grandson take off his coat and set it on the coat-rack.

"I would have, but some people discovered your letter, and it landed me in suspension."

Lucius didn't look even a little bit fazed. It was as though he was happy to have Scorpius out of Hogwarts for good.

"Take a seat. Let me introduce you to our leader and your uncle, Mizar Lestrange."

Scorpius didn't sit, but stood there as Mizar's face emerged into the light of the fire burning in the fireplace. The first thing that Scorpius noticed was his eyes that were mere slits...intimidating all the same. Next came his square jaw; dark, curly hair like that of his mother's, reaching up to his neck; his hand that gripped the armrest was a burly one...the veins were clearly visible through them. Mizar Lestrange was nothing short of daunting, Scorpius observed.

"Good evening..." Scorpius began a bit hesitantly as he stepped forward. "I'm not quite sure what to call you."

"You're a member of the family, Scorpius." His voice was just as Scorpius had expected; deep, guttural, and captivatingly haunting. "I'm your uncle. And you will call me just that."

The smile on his face was a straight one, yet enough to make his appearance even more terrorizing.

"It's good to meet you, uncle Mizar," said Scorpius. He now stood right before his uncle, close enough to be able to see all of his features.

"Likewise," said Mizar. "Have a seat."

Scorpius sat on the empty chair beside that of Lucius's.

"I presume since people know about your alliance with us, they would also be aware of your father's?" Mizar asked after a moment of silence that was only filled with the sound of flames crackling in the fireplace.

"I didn't have time enough to find that out, but I think that's true."

"Well, not to worry. We've sent to have him here if he's in any trouble." Mizar leaned back in his seat. "I suppose since we're planning to attack soon anyway, there is no need for him to be an insider there now."

"Attacking soon?" Scorpius frowned. "How soon would that be?"

The first thought that came into his head was that of Lily's safety. Whatever happens, Scorpius wasn't going to let any harm come to her.

"Just as soon as we have your father and mother here with us, and we have prepared them to fight."

"I don't know where she is."

"She's with the people who are out to rescue Draco."

Scorpius was a bit worried since he knew that neither his mother nor father was aware about the fact that Scorpius had been framed into this situation. If only Albus hadn't been so dim-witted, this whole thing could have been avoided, he thought. All this time, the thought of his best friend having betrayed him this way hadn't left his mind. It was saddening to say the least, and Scorpius didn't know as to how he was going to ever come to forgive Albus. In this process of framing Scorpius, Albus had taken Lily away from him, and that fact angered him the most, if not anything else. He hoped that nothing bad happens when Draco and Astoria arrived. He would die before letting this plan fail.

Even in his anger, Scorpius had decided to stop this army from attacking Hogwarts. He would have to formulate this plan with his father, but unless and until they met, there was no way anything could be done. Scorpius decided to keep in mind that he had to stay very careful when sneaking around the Manor if he wanted to find out what the attack strategy was. They were to attack sometime soon, and Scorpius hoped that he would be able to stop it before any major destruction happened. Before he did anything else, there was one thing that was on his mind the whole time. Lily. He hoped that she would be safe, and that she would be able to handle whatever was happening.

Lily had hardly been able to take in the information that Ginny had provided in Mcgonagall's office. She was sitting in the house common-room with Alice, staring off into space and wondering as to what went wrong and how none of them were able to tell that something was going on with the Malfoy family. Shouldn't they have been suspicious of it the whole time? It was so convenient...the entire situation, and Lily couldn't believe all the things that had happened right under their noses. She kept recalling the conversation that they had had in Mcgonagall's office mere hours ago.

"It was Astoria," Ginny had said. She was met with a collective gasp from Mcgonagall and Lily, who were having a hard time comprehending as to what Ginny had said.

"Mum, what do you mean it was her? How is that even possible?" Lily had asked, utterly bewildered.

"Do you remember when Astoria came to the Burrow, and only hours later Ascella appeared outside even though there was enough protection from the Aurors?"

Lily had nodded.

"In the commotion, nobody noticed when Astoria slipped out and turned into the supposed twin. Astoria is a metamorphmagus. She took the form of Bellatrix, dropped the news of Harry being dead, and re-appeared in the Burrow moments after the Aurors went looking for Ascella. Astoria was the one who told us that Mizar has a twin. Isn't that much too convenient? None of us realized that she might just be lying to us because we trust the Malfoys so well."

It had taken a while for Lily to let it all sink in. She then shook her head as though she hadn't understood something important.

"Aren't metamorphmagus supposed to have their hair colour change?" She had asked.

"Haven't you seen that she usually wears a hat? Like professor Mcgonagall."

Lily had given it a moment of thought and realized that Ginny was right. They had never exactly seen her hair since she wore a hat, and almost never took it off. Besides, they had been much too preoccupied with the other events to notice something so trivial as her hair colour changing. Lily could only wonder how everyone had been that unobservant.

"And it's not as though we spent too much time with her to see it happen," Hermione said.

"Then how did you find out?" Mcgonagall had asked.

"Well, we were out looking for Harry and Draco, and that's when we found some Death Eaters lurking around. So as to not get caught, we asked her to take off her pointy hat because it was sort of easy to spot. She seemed quite reluctant at first but then did take it off and Hermione noticed the change in her hair colour, which we previously thought was just like that of Draco and Scorpius's. She avoided the topic when we asked her about it, but we didn't have much time to argue so we let it go. When we received your letter, we got suspicious and found her talking to one of the Death Eaters outside the Leaky Cauldron. She spotted us, we had a duel, and then she suddenly disappeared along with the Death Eater.

"Later we met James and George, who told us that they had found out that no twin existed. It wasn't Ascella who killed mum, it was Astoria. And nobody even realized it because they thought that somehow she breached through the Auror protection, when in reality she was given clear access into St. Mungo's."

It was now two hours later that Lily was still trying to let this new knowledge register into her brain. The Malfoys were all traitors, and it was Scorpius's mother who had killed Molly Weasley. If that wasn't enough to make Lily hate him even more, then she didn't know. It was too much to take in. And to think that Scorpius must have known about this all the while that he was consoling her for Molly's death...it made Lily sick to the stomach. How could he? It was all she could wonder. She had seen so much truth in his eyes, and the adoration that he had for her was something nobody could miss. It astounded her to know that someone could fake something so deep. Lily felt disgusted and wanted to make him suffer for a lifetime.

She was enraged, and everything but frightened. As she stared at the flames in the fireplace, all she could see was Scorpius's face...burning.

Scorpius snapped his eyes away from where he had been looking at the flames when the door of the Manor flew open to reveal Draco and Astoria along with a few other Death Eaters. Draco held a most conflicted expression that Scorpius could mirror when their eyes met.

"Ah, my son," Astoria said silkily, as she pulled Scorpius into an embrace. "How I have been worried about you."

Scorpius couldn't understand the strange tone that she was speaking in. Her appearance was entirely different than usual. She was wearing the usual clothes that she wore, with the pointy had and everything...but there was something different about her that he found a bit uncomfortable. It was almost as though she had been to Malfoy Manor in such conditions before. He very nearly asked her what was going on but steadied himself.

Draco was staring pointedly at Scorpius, unable to comprehend the whole situation that the pair of them had been put in. Scorpius knew that his father needed some answers, but now was not the time to divulge into that.

"You must be tired, all of you," Mizar said after they had all greeted each other; Draco a bit too uncomfortable in this surrounding for his liking, but he did well not to show it.

"Go and get some rest," Mizar concluded, and they all dispersed.

Astoria chose to stay in the drawing room while Draco and Scorpius were sent into their respective rooms. The atmosphere of Malfoy Manor was not the same as before. It was quite the trouble for the father and son to handle. The moment the Death Eaters had disappeared, Draco followed Scorpius into his room and shut the door behind him. They needed to talk.

"What in Merlin's name are _you_ doing here, Scorpius?" Draco hissed, as though he thought that Scorpius was actually a part of this.

"I was suspended from school," Scorpius muttered, breathing a sigh of relief to be alone with his father now.

He knew some good would come out of this.

"What?" Draco glared.

"It wasn't my fault, dad."

"This is preposterous! I don't know what is going on here. There I was, trying to help the Potters in catching these damned Death Eaters and they capture me and bring me here! Your mother tells me that she's been part of this whole thing since the beginning and I haven't a clue about it. And it is also that this is why she created the hoax of Malfoy Manor being rebuilt just to get you out of here so that these wretched people can stay. Have you had any idea this was happening? What are you even doing getting suspended? What did you do?"

By this time Draco had very nearly grabbed Scorpius's shoulders and slammed him into the wall behind, but he controlled his urge and fell onto the sofa.

"Dad, please calm down. I didn't know that mum was in on all of this," he said, sitting beside Draco on the sofa.

"Then what—?"

"Let me finish." He raised a hand gently. "I'll start from the beginning. Albus was sending letters to grandfather posing as me so he could get some information out...I'm not entirely sure, but I think it was to know if his dad was safe. Somehow Mcgonagall got hold of one of the letters and suspended me thinking that I was corresponding with these people. So I came here to find out what exactly is going on, and if there was anything I could do to stop this battle coming up. I was waiting for you to get here so we could do something about this. It's going to cause a lot of destruction, dad. We need to stop this."

"Need to stop what?" Astoria waltzed in through the door as though she had been standing outside all this while.

Scorpius looked a bit afraid that she might have heard them, but the confident look on Draco's face relieved him.

"The existence of mudbloods," said Draco as though that was exactly what they had been discussing.

"Isn't that the spirit we've been looking for, hmm, Scorpius?" She said in a brazen manner, one that Scorpius had never seen.

He gave a curt nod, leaning back in his chair as the similar snarky and malicious expression took over his features, as though he was one of them...as though he had been a part of this the whole time. One thing that accompanied a Malfoy was the ever-present snide and mirth filled smirks, those that no other wizard or witch could match. It was the distinguishing factor of a Malfoy, and Scorpius's act of fitting in with the Death Eater army would work quite easily.

"Why don't you go and get some sleep, darling," Draco said after a while to Astoria. "I have to sit and spend some time with my son, tell him how he has made me proud by being an insider for the army."

Astoria didn't even so much as blink before agreeing to Draco's suggestion. As though she needed a good deal of sleep, she kissed the both of them goodnight and left to go to her and Draco's room. Draco immediately turned to Scorpius.

"Are you completely sure that Potter was the one who sent these letters?" He asked, leaning forward as he spoke in a soft voice.

"I know him, dad. I know it was him." Scorpius nodded gravely, still not being able to believe that his best friend would do something of this sort to him.

"Alright, now, we can't exactly stop this battle," said Draco after a moment of thinking. "All we can do is warn people at Hogwarts so they can protect those who shouldn't come in harm's way. No young boys and girls should be a part of this. I will not have that. They don't need to face those things at their age." He sighed at the end as though remembering something.

"But, dad, how are we going to warn them? They think we're traitors. Nobody is going to believe our warning."

"There is only one person who knows that you aren't involved in any of this. Write to Potter. He's the only one who can save the others."

Scorpius attempted to give it a thought, and then nodded in agreement. Draco was right. Albus was the only one who could help them. Scorpius only hoped that Albus would do something right this time.

It was a day later that Albus received a letter when he was sitting in the Slytherin common-room, going through some books to distract himself. When the owl dropped the envelope in his lap, Albus watched it sit there on his knee until he had registered the fact that it had come from Scorpius. With shaky hands, he slit the envelope and unfolded the letter.

 _To,_

 _A._ _Potter._

 _The army of Death Eaters is going to attack very soon. They're planning it as I write this. Evacuate the school to the best of your abilities so the casualties can be minimised. You of all people are aware of my innocence in this game that you've played against me. You put me in this position, and I'm asking you to save the others before it is too late. Do this right, Potter, because this is the last time I will ever be contacting you._

 _Let the others go and let only the capable ones fight in this battle. Make up for the wrong you've done to me and I might just forgive you. Have the others go into safety, save your family. Most of all, Potter, I'm requesting you to save_ her _._

 _S. Malfoy_

Almost a moment later, Albus Severus Potter was seen dashing out of the common-room and into professor Mcgonagall's office.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

The evacuation was just as chaotic as it had been in the battle of Hogwarts years ago. The teachers who had already been a part of one battle seemed much too tired to be facing another one. Students were all sent back home through the Hogwarts Express; not even those who were of age. But being stubborn as they were, Albus, Lily and Rose stayed back, all quite prepared to fight no matter what. The Potter and Weasley families had arrived shortly after the students left, and were gathered in the great hall with the professors.

"How did you find out about the attack?" Harry asked Professor Mcgonagall curiously.

Mcgonagall's tired and suddenly too old looking face caught the eye of Albus, who averted his gaze immediately for fear of giving it away. The previous night when he had informed her about the attack happening soon, he had also requested the professor not to reveal to anyone as to how he had found out. He didn't want to have to answer the questions that everyone would ask if it came from him. He'd told her the truth that night, for there was no other way to minimise the casualties.

"Scorpius is innocent," he had said, only to have Mcgonagall frustrated as she had held her head in her hands out of exhaustion.

"I don't want to know what you two have been up to this time," she had chided after hearing the entire story. "If your information is reliable enough about the attack then we'll evacuate the school immediately."

"I'm sure it's reliable, professor."

"Then go ahead and ask the prefects and the house heads to see me now."

Albus had been dismissed soon after, but not before requesting her to keep the information secret. She hadn't protested but said that it would be revealed after the battle if any of them were alive, and that the Malfoy boy would be allowed to finish his last year.

"My sources have confirmed," she said to Harry, who seemed a bit unconvinced but gave a nod anyway.

"And when exactly will they be attacking?" Ginny asked.

"Any time soon," said Mcgonagall.

But two days went by and there had been no trace of an attack. Albus was getting worried as they all kept practising duelling and defence tactics all through the days. All of them spent sleepless nights until the night of the third day, when they all gathered for dinner, only to find one of their members missing. Chaos ensued when the remnant occupants of Hogwarts went looking for Rose, who couldn't be found anywhere. Lily and George were in the Room of Requirement, hoping to see if Rose had somehow ended up there, but they saw no trace of her. Worried, they had all gathered in the great hall after having searched everywhere. Albus was about to suggest going to the Forbidden Forest when—

WHAM!

One of the windows of the great hall flew open and an abnormally large owl came crashing in. It swooped in towards Professor Mcgonagall and rigorously fluttered its wings as though it wanted to get rid of the roll of parchment attacked to one of its legs. Mcgonagall carefully undid the knot over the parchment and pulled it out of the owl's leg before unfolding it, and in moments the owl flew right out of the window it had emerged from. There was a pause, as Mcgonagall read through the contents and breathlessly let the parchment fall onto the table they were all huddled around.

She wore a look of despair and exhaustion: something that seemed to have been there since the news of the attack came. Harry frowned and picked up the parchment before loudly cursing in frustration. He slammed his fist on the table as George took the parchment and read it.

"What is it?" asked Ron, leaning over the table so as to see what George held.

"What's wrong?" Hermione said, a look of foreboding encompassed across her features.

"They have Rose," said George sadly.

It seemed as though the floor slipped beneath Hermione's feet as she stumbled, only to be caught by Ron. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and held her so she was standing properly.

"We'll rescue her, 'Mione," said Ron soothingly. "Don't worry. She's going to be alright." He rubbed her shoulders softly, but Hermione wasn't listening. Tears slipped out of her eyes as though they were waiting to be elicited by this news. She clutched onto Ron's arm as though he would disappear, and her heart was carelessly hammering inside her chest at the thought of Rose being harmed.

"Why would they take her?" she breathed through sobs as Ron attempted to soothe her while the others sat there wondering as to how they would save Rose from the clutches of Mizar Lestrange.

"They say here that she's the daughter of a mudblood," said George. "That's why they've taken her. (Hermione's eyes shot up in anger) And that they'll harm her unless we've all surrendered and joined Mizar Lestrange in his journey to power." As he said this, George's blood boiled and all he wished to do now was tear Mizar apart into pieces. He still hadn't gotten over the fact that Ascella—or Astoria had killed Molly, and he wanted to end this whole new Death Eater army once and for all.

"I'm going to kill that bastard!" Hermione was on her feet as though Mizar's army was right outside the great hall, and that she'd immediately go and slash his throat.

"'Mione!" Ron bellowed and ran after her. Nobody followed, knowing that Hermione needed to be calmed down only by Ron; meanwhile they could come up with how to rescue Rose without ending up joining the wretched Mizar.

"What now?" asked Lily worriedly. She looked much too shaken up at the news of Rose being harmed. If anything were to happen to her, Lily didn't know what she would do. Rose had been her best friend along with being her sister, and Lily was scared to death about what might be happening right now. Would Scorpius harm her? Would Rose be tortured like Grandma Molly had been tortured only weeks ago?

"I hope they haven't done any harm to her," muttered Ginny distractedly as she sat beside Harry, holding his arm.

"They won't," said Albus, and he suddenly wanted to take those words back. Everyone looked at him as though asking him how he was so sure that she wouldn't be harmed.

"I mean ... I'm sure they won't do anything unless we've told them that we want to fight instead of join them," he said quickly as though covering up his tracks.

George watched him suspiciously for a moment before turning to Harry.

"Where have they summoned us?" He asked, grabbing the parchment again.

"Malfoy Manor," answered Harry, and Lily's breath stopped.

She didn't know how she would react if they were to go to Malfoy Manor, and if she were to come face to face with Scorpius. Although, if she would like to use one of the unforgivable curses against him if ever given a chance.

"We'll go," said James, breaking the thoughtful silence.

"What do you mean we'll go?" Lily asked, far too aggravated at Scorpius and the Malfoys that her mind didn't seem to be in the right place.

"We'll go, and we'll pretend to be surrendering, some of us will go and rescue Rose and get out of there while the others will stay and fight the army," he finished.

"Are you really suggesting we fight an entire Death Eater army on our own?" Lily looked at him incredulously.

"What's wrong with you?" James frowned, looking just as bewildered as her. "Isn't that what we were going to do here anyway?"

Lily promptly shut up after that and glared at the floor as though it had been the cause of all her woes.

"That actually sounds good," said Harry to everyone's surprise.

"Are you sure?" asked George. "It could be dangerous."

"There's no other way."

The group seemed to agree upon James's plan, and decided to be at Malfoy Manor itself instead of sending an owl and informing them first.

"Has anyone thought that they might already know what we'd do in this situation?" Lily said after a moment of silence.

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked.

"I mean that they might have captured Rose to lure us to Malfoy Manor so we won't have to fight at Hogwarts, possibly because its much easier to get us there rather than fight through all of the protection that we have around the castle."

Lily's words seemed to be quite sensible, and the rest of them began to think the same way.

"They're not that stupid," she said. "They know us. The Malfoys have been with us long enough to know that we won't just go and surrender just because they have Rose. They don't want to have to deplete their forces by breaching through the protection around Hogwarts, and it would only be much simpler for them to ask us to their residence itself."

"She's right," sighed George. "There's a good possibility of that having happened. But how did they breach through the protection to get to Rose anyway?"

"That's something only they'll be able to tell us," said Mcgonagall. "The protection was far too good to be breached by a small Death Eater army."

"Voldemort's army did get through though," said Albus.

"That was Voldemort," said Lily irritably. "Mizar Lestrange isn't half as strong as Voldemort."

"We still don't have another option," said James. "We'll have to play it like they want it."

"I'm just saying we should be prepared since they might not let us get to Rose in the first place," said Lily.

"We won't find that out unless we're there," said Albus.

"Let's get going then." Harry stood up. "We don't have any time to waste." Everyone stood up and gathered to leave, an ominous feeling surrounding them all over, as though they all knew that something disastrous was about to happen.

Harry turned to Professor Mcgonagall midway through the great hall. "Professor," he said. "You're not thinking of accompanying us, are you?"

"Don't we need more forces if there's going to be a battle?" She said, as though determined to go with them despite the exhaustion.

"We can't risk you being in any danger," said Harry, just as determined. "It would be better if you stayed at the school in case anyone tries to attack here. We can't trust them at this point."

Mcgonagall seemed to be weighing her choices before giving a nod of agreement. She wasn't strong enough to battle those Death Eaters again. It would be better if she stayed and protected the school instead. She helped them prepare for their journey and informed Lily to remember the counter-curses that she had taught her, and when to use them. Lily, who was grateful to the professor for having been of so much help, bade her goodbye and left to follow the entourage outside the school grounds. Hermione had considerably calmed down and had resolved to kill Mizar through her own hands for having taken her daughter. As the lot left the school and gathered to apparate, Lily inhaled deeply as though preparing to face the worst. She didn't care about anything at the moment apart from Rose. She was going to save Rose, no matter what the Death Eaters did. And as far as Scorpius was concerned—

Her thoughts were cut off as she felt herself swirling in what seemed like a mist before her feet landed onto the ground with a thud. She let go of George's arm — with whom she had apparated since she still wasn't of age — and her eyes settled onto the view of the looming structure of Malfoy Manor. Amidst the moonlit night, Malfoy Manor stood ominously before them, and Lily witnessed where Scorpius lived. The fact that he was in there, just steps away from the gates where she was standing, registered in Lily's mind and she let out a breath. She vowed to hex him at least once when they were inside.

The entourage walked ahead, slowly and steadily, all of them a bit uncomfortable due to the eeriness of the grounds. They walked past the tall gardens on either side of the pathway, and it was as though the Manor had been waiting for them to arrive; as though the security around it had been retracted just so they could easily enter without having to be stopped by the guards stationed outside the gates. Lily strode ahead beside George, who held her hand comfortingly as though he knew what she must be feeling. He had been quite supportive of her after he found out what Scorpius had done, and Lily felt rather calm whenever he was around.

They stopped before the gates of the Manor, hesitant to open the doors and go in, but they hardly had to make any effort, since the moment they stepped onto the threshold, the doors creaked open. Harry entered. The rest of them followed. Inside the Manor, the hallway was lit by a few lamps glowing above them on the walls; the darkness was still quite prominent as they walked over the long, wide carpet, which seemed far too clean for their muddy shoes. Lily almost felt guilty for having stepped on it. They reached the end of the hallway, still not having been greeted by anyone. All of them were waiting for someone to suddenly jump and attack them, but the eerie silence was frightening.

Just as Harry was about to grab the bronze handle of the doors to the drawing room, a shrill echo ran through the walls, as though someone was deliberately being tortured. Hermione's knees buckled and she gripped onto the portrait covered walls for support, as she remembered how she had been tortured by Bellatrix years ago in the same place. Lily's heartbeat rang inside her ears like a drum being vigorously slammed, and she held George's hand even tighter. Not wasting another moment, Harry threw open the door to be greeted by the drawing room, which was filled with no more than five people: Lucius Malfoy—who sat on an armchair proudly; opposite to him was stood the unfamiliar face, whom they recognized as Mizar Lestrange, as his daunting visage came into view: the slits for eyes, high cheekbones and curly hair like that of his mother's. Next came Astoria, who was looking rather different, and much paler than ever as she stood next to the mantelpiece, under which the glorious flames danced. Beside her was Draco, looking tired and uncomfortable in his own home. A Death Eater was stood at the back of Lucius's chair, whose name nobody knew.

Harry fearlessly strode in, and Mizar Lestrange focussed his attention on the entrants bemusedly. He watched as they walked ahead and assembled closely together as though detaching even one of them would break them all apart.

"Welcome, Harry Potter," said Mizar, swinging his body in their direction as he stood tall over Harry. "I see you received our owl." He looked so smug that Hermione wanted to chop him to pieces and throw him into the fire with the logs.

"Why else would we be here?" Harry retorted.

"I'm glad you've decided to surrender instead of fighting a battle with us," he said, not even believing his own words.

Harry realized that Mizar knew they weren't there to surrender at all.

"You didn't leave us with a choice," said Harry. "Where's Rose?"

"The mudblood's daughter? Oh, look you brought the mudblood with you!" He exclaimed, looking round at Hermione's fuming figure. Ron held her, whispering in her ear to calm down.

"You see, Lestrange," said Harry, taking a threatening step forward. "If she has been harmed, then I'm not so sure about this _surrender."_

"Luckily for her, you came in time," Mizar snarled. "Antonio was just about to make use of the Cruciatus Curse."

Hermione huffed out an agonized breath and was about to pounce on Mizar when Ron grabbed her by the waist to steady her.

"You ... didn't ... have to do that," said Harry through gritted teeth, anger rising inside of him by the minute.

"As a matter of fact, we did. Your mudblood friend seems quite agitated." Mizar smiled menacingly. "Isn't it a delight, uncle Lucius? To see a mudblood squirm before they are tortured."

"Don't you dare lay a hand on Hermione," Ron hissed, stepping forward beside Harry as he guarded Hermione.

"Blood traitor Weasley," tutted Mizar. Another scream tore through the walls, and the temperature in the drawing room suddenly seemed to drop as Harry, George, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny's blood boiled in anger.

Lily hastily took a step back, slipping out of George's hold, who hardly noticed her grabbing Albus's arm and softly asking him to apparate them to the first floor. Albus looked at her incredulously as the arguments between Harry and Mizar seemed to get more intense.

"Just do it!" Lily hissed in a whisper so as not to have them be heard by anyone.

Albus, who looked conflicted, didn't make another protest as he complied and held her arm before vanishing from the drawing room and reaching the long passageway of the first floor. Albus, although having been Scorpius's friend, had never been to Malfoy Manor before, and hardly knew what was where. He vaguely remembered Scorpius's description of the same. Lily and Albus's disappearance suddenly seemed to halt the commotion, and everyone turned around, only Mizar now looked ready to attack any moment.

"Where are Lily and Albus?" Ginny spoke; and Draco was soon on his feet. Mizar was about to turn to the Death Eater and ask him to go look for them when Draco sprinted over and halted him.

"I'll go," he offered eagerly, and Mizar didn't think of wasting another moment as he let Draco run up the stairs to reach the first floor, leaving the others to soon be surrounded by a group of other Death Eaters emerging from the shadows of the dimly lit drawing room.

Draco dashed around the passageway only to find Albus and Lily crouching beside a table to shield themselves from a Death Eater who was patrolling the corridors. Draco strolled up to him, and told him that they needed him downstairs, before he ran towards Lily and Albus. Lily was on her feet, thinking that they were going to be led down to Mizar and be tortured when—

Crashes and thumps were heard from downstairs as jets of light flew here and there. Before Draco could tell them as to where they could find Rose, a few Death Eaters had rushed up the stairs and had spotted Lily and Albus, only to shoot curses in their direction, to which Albus pulled out his wand and Lily ducked behind him, pulling out her own. Draco, who didn't know exactly what side to fight from, now that he was trapped between the two, pretended to be looking for his wand as he ducked under a jet of green light flying in his direction.

The table that Lily and Albus had hidden behind, crashed and fell onto the floor as though creating a barrier between the Death Eaters and them. Lily made a run for it after shooting a disarming curse in pointy-chin's direction as she dashed into a room through a tall door. She saw the reflection of the lights flying around here and there as sounds of bangs and clatter ran through the passageway. She looked around at the dark room that seemed eerily empty, and Lily adjusted her vision through the moonlight. She could make out a bed in the middle, along with a chandelier hanging over her head as though it was about to fall onto her head. As the ceiling shook overhead, cracks formed around the chandelier before it began to tremble, and Lily shrieked and ducked as she threw open the door and stumbled outside, right when the chandelier fell onto the floor with a crash, spilling the shards of glass all over. One of the splinters flew into her arm that she had shielded her eyes with, and she groaned in pain as blood dripped out from the cut.

The passageway was now empty, but flower pots and tables and cabinets were strewn all over, blocking her path as she attempted to walk round them while trying to pull out the splinter so it wouldn't hurt her. Jabs of pain ran through her arm as she successfully pulled it out and threw it on the floor stumbling ahead towards the stairs that led up to the second floor, which was still trembling as though about to fall on her again. Lily wondered as to how strong the curses were being shot across. There was commotion all throughout the Manor as she ran up the stairs, ignoring the blood dripping faster and faster out of the cut on her arm. She heard shrieks and groans reverberating the walls, and a jet of red light shot right next to her ear, and Lily clambered up after hexing the fat Death Eater who had attacked her.

She painstakingly reached the second floor only to be greeted by the sight of Albus and a Death Eater duelling. She staggered up and ran in the opposite direction to meet with a tall, open window, which she hardly noticed and was about to fall through it when she gasped and grabbed hold of the windowsill. Cold air whooshed in and Lily breathed heavily as she turned around and threw open a door in an attempt to find Rose somewhere, but the moment she grabbed the handle, she was thrown onto the wall beside the window as a spell shot straight to her abdomen.

Painfully, Lily clutched her stomach and attempted to stand up as Albus angrily shot a spell, and the Death Eater went still in his place before collapsing, knocking over a vase to his right. Albus ran up to Lily and quickly helped her up as she groaned in pain.

"She's not up here anywhere," said Albus. "We'll have to go to the cellar."

Lily and Albus ran through the streaming jets of light and ducked and dodged and clambered as they made their way towards the cellar. They ran and jumped and rolled, trying their best to counter the curses and get to the cellar without being hexed. They passed the drawing room where a raging duel was going on between Astoria and Ginny; through the window, Lily saw Harry and Mizar duelling outside along with George and a Death Eater. Albus dragged Lily away and towards the cellar through the curses and jinxes flying across here and there, only to stop when Scorpius came sprinting up the stairs of the cellar.

Lily stopped. Albus's grip loosened. And they stood there until Scorpius noticed the two of them at the end of the stairs. His pace slowed until he came to a stop, steps below where they were stood. Albus was about to drag Lily when a curse flew at him from behind and he stumbled down the stairs, knocking Lily and Scorpius down as fell at the foot of the cellar where Rose's wailing figure came into view, accompanied by a Death Eater. Lily glared at Scorpius, realizing that he had been in the cellar alone with Rose and quite possibly must have been the one who tortured her.

She saw Albus staggering up to standing as he threw open the bars of the cellar and dashed in, while Lily grabbed her wand from where it had fallen beside her knee, and stood up to shoot a curse at Scorpius. Now was her chance. Now was the time to get back at him for all he had done. She stood up and as did he, but before Scorpius could utter a word to explain, she spoke.

"Duel with me."

Scorpius's eyes widened. "What?" He looked at her bewildered.

Lily said nothing as she positioned her wand, and Scorpius had no option but to do the same, knowing that there was no way to convince her to do otherwise. He let Albus rescue the tortured and frail Rose as he ran up the steps and Lily backed away from him as they stood in front of each other, ready to duel. Lily heard another scream from the cellar, and anger boiled inside her as she pulled her arm back and threw a hex in Scorpius's direction, who dodged it and shot another back. Jets of light clashed together in a deadly duel as from the corner of her eye, Lily saw Albus dragging Rose's body out of the cellar. She didn't let her concentration waver as the two lights battled together, both trying to overpower each other while Albus helplessly pulled Rose along and up the steps.

His eyes trailed up to find Lily and Scorpius engaged in a duel, and he was about to go and stop them when the two of them were thrown apart, both their spells breaking contact when hexes flew from different directions. Lily and Scorpius scrambled to find their wands, and Lily didn't waste a moment as she grabbed hers, pointed it in Scorpius's direction as he stood up to position himself, and yelled, "STUPEFY!" Scorpius was thrown onto the wall behind, only to crash into the glass of the window, and fall down through it behind onto the garden. Lily gripped the wall for support, her knees shivering under her weight as triumph along with hatred for Scorpius soared through her body. She gathered her senses and helped Albus in bringing Rose up, shielding her from the spells shooting across here and there.

Suddenly the commotion in the garden seemed to have stopped, and silence started to fall like a blanket over the Manor. Lily and Albus placed Rose's unconscious body onto the settee on their left as they looked around in confusion. Everything had suddenly gone silent. Cautiously, Lily took a step forward as Albus stayed back with Rose. She leaned ahead from behind the wall to look into the drawing room where Astoria's body lay on the floor beside the fireplace. Ginny was on the other side, lying rather uncomfortably on the floor as she tried to sit up. Before Lily could go and help her, Harry and Ron barged in through the doors and stopped to look at Astoria's comatose body.

"Dammit!" Ron groaned, clutching his forehead as though in pain. He looked round at Ginny and went to help her up as Hermione dashed in, panting as she held on to a tipped armchair for support.

Lily came out of her hiding and into the drawing room.

"What's going on?" she asked Harry, who looked conflicted.

"The Malfoys were innocent," he said, and Lily frowned.

"What?"

"I mean, Astoria wasn't, but Draco and Scorpius were."

Lily's breath stopped. Her jaw dropped as she recalled the duel that they had had moments ago. Scorpius was out there in the garden, stunned, unconscious and possibly injured due to having smashed into the window.

"What are you talking about, dad?" she asked, still unable to comprehend what was going on.

Before Harry could reply, James barged in and came to a stop before them.

"We need to leave," he said, huffing. "Some Death Eaters went to Hogwarts."

There was no time to be wasted as Harry gathered everyone immediately. George, Hermione, Ginny, James, Lily, and Albus — who had carried Rose along — joined when Teddy — who had just killed Lucius Malfoy — dashed in before they all apparated. Soon, the entourage was rushing into Hogwarts where the walls seemed to be crumbling down perilously as though an earthquake had just occurred. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Teddy dashed away towards the great hall where Death Eaters were stunning anything and everything in their wake, while Albus and James carefully dodged the attacks to get Rose's unconscious body to safety. Lily was seen tumbling over the corpse of a Death Eater, and she was pulled away from a curse by Mcgonagall, who was in the courtyard, throwing hexes around.

Together they battled a few Death Eaters while mayhem ensued in the entire school, crashing and breaking the rebuilt walls of the castle. James and Albus had rushed up to the hospital wing and found Madam Pomfrey hiding under a table as a Death Eater paced around looking for anyone he could kill. James shot a stunning spell at him while Albus placed Rose onto one of the beds before bringing Madam Pomfrey out from under the table. Albus left while James chose to stay there in case any Death Eater attacked while Rose was being tended to.

But just as soon as Albus reached the great hall, everything fell silent. The entire hall was in shambles; tables and benches strewn around, shattered bricks gathered here and there, blocking his path; and bodies of Death Eaters lying still on the floor as he walked ahead. A ringing silence settled as everyone fell onto their knees, exhausted and worn out from all of the duels. Mcgonagall and Lily were sat at the end of the hall, with Ginny, who was wiping the blood off of Lily's injured arm. Harry and George were dragging one of the Death Eaters's body and throwing it aside to give them way, and Albus stumbled along to the front where everyone was beginning to gather. James was still in the hospital wing with Rose, but Teddy, Hermione and Ron had just arrived and were walking behind Albus.

"Are all of them dead?" asked Albus, taking a seat beside Harry on the floor.

Harry nodded.

"Even at the Manor?"

"Everyone except Draco, Scorpius and Astoria," said Ginny.

"Where's Rose?" asked Hermione.

"Hospital wing," Albus said, and it took only a moment for Hermione and Ron to be out of the great hall.

"Mum," said Albus. "I thought you killed Mrs. Malfoy."

Ginny shook her head. "Just stunned her. I was going to kill her but by that time we had to leave."

"I don't think she's going to be able to do much harm now that Mizar's dead," said George. "What were you saying about the Malfoys being innocent?" He turned to Harry.

"Turns out they weren't involved in the whole thing after all," said Harry. "Malfoy told me that Scorpius had been framed." Harry's eyes flickered over to Albus, who sat there rather uncomfortably. "But Astoria had been a part of it from the start."

"And you believed him?" asked Ginny.

"He fought a few Death Eaters with me," said Harry.

"But Scorpius was framed how?" George asked.

"I'll let Albus explain," said Harry, his eyes boring into that of Albus's, who knew that there was no way to get out of this now. He straightened up as Lily's eyes watched him curiously.

"I framed him ..." he began, and when he was done, Lily nearly got up and hexed him but Ginny restrained her, and persuaded her to go to the hospital wing so her arm could be healed.

But Lily wouldn't move. She was glaring at Albus as though she would stop at nothing to hurt him. Anger burned inside of her and she wanted to slam Albus's head onto a wall for having done something so horrible to Scorpius.

"I only did it to find out about dad," said Albus meekly, as everyone else didn't seem too pleased with what he had done.

"There were other ways to do that, Albus," scolded Ginny while she tried to keep Lily in place.

"YOU MADE ME STUN HIM!" Lily roared, ready to throw herself onto Albus, who backed away from her.

"Lily!" Ginny chided, grabbing hold of her before she pounced at him. She looked at George for help, and he stood up to take Lily away to the hospital wing.

"Come on," he said, pulling her towards him while she flailed angrily. "Don't do something you'll regret, Lily," he said quietly, and Lily's breath softened as she let herself be dragged away by George, all the while shooting daggers in Albus's direction.

When they reached the hospital wing, Lily was put to sleep immediately as Madam Pomfrey worked on her arm at the same time treating Rose. James left with George and they returned to the great hall, where by this time, Albus had told everyone that he wasn't the only one who had been a part of framing Scorpius. In fact, it had all been James's idea in the first place. James was heard being reprimanded for whatever he had done, and the two were sent along with Harry and Ron to see that Draco and Scorpius were taken care of after having been Stunned and left unconscious.

It was around eleven in the morning when Lily woke up at the stinging pain that went through her arm. The splinter had been wedged in quite deep into her arm, and it was difficult to move it now. Her arm was wrapped in a bandage, and as she pushed herself up to sitting, Lily saw Rose sitting lazily on her bed, chewing on a toast. She looked up at Lily and smiled. Lily yawned and returned it, sitting up herself.

"Good morning," said Rose, in a rather croaky voice. Lily suddenly remembered that Rose had gone through pain much worse than what Lily had. She had been tortured infernally, and the pain of the Cruciatus Curse was much too difficult to get over.

"How are you feeling?" Lily asked, in her own raspy voice. She cleared her throat to get a better grip.

"Better than what I felt in that cellar," said Rose, shuddering at the mere thought of the dreadful surrounding.

"I'm sorry." Lily got up, and rushing towards Rose, she threw her arms around her cousin's neck in an embrace.

"I'm fine, Lily," said Rose, hugging her back. "Scorpius made sure that they didn't torture me too much."

"I Stunned him," said Lily remorsefully, as she thought of the fact that she hadn't even been able to apologise to him.

"You found out the truth then?"

"You knew it this whole time?"

Rose nodded. "I knew the entire plan from the beginning. But I couldn't do anything about it because Albus and James threatened to tell you about Scorpius and I having kissed."

"I really don't care about it anymore," said Lily truthfully. "I wish you'd have told me yourself, though."

"I know. I'm sorry. It was all very messed up. I didn't know what could be done. But I should have acted sooner."

"Don't blame yourself, Rose." Lily gave her hand a squeeze. "None of this was your fault. I just—I just don't know how Albus could do this." She shuddered.

"None of it was Scorpius's fault either," said Rose. "Had he not been there, I wouldn't have been alive."

"H-how did they capture you anyway?" Lily asked curiously.

"I received an owl from Hagrid, asking me to go to his hut," said Rose. "It was quite vague but I went anyway. I thought he might need some help with restoring his home after it had been destroyed, but when I reached, there was no one. So I went further into the Forbidden Forest to see if Hagrid was anywhere around. The protection around the school was strong but they had managed to break it around the Forest. So that's when they captured me. Scorpius was there, and after they took me to Malfoy Manor, he offered to keep a watch on me. They were going to kill me but he insisted on keeping me alive by telling them that it would be easier to lure you lot in. He really helped me, you know. He didn't let them torture me too much, but there was only so much he could do without being suspected."

Lily's heart broke upon hearing everything, and she immediately wanted to go and see Scorpius to apologise. He hadn't deserved any of this. He hadn't deserved that duel and being Stunned. Lily hoped that he wasn't too injured due to having tumbled out the window. That very moment, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and George walked in followed by Albus, James and Teddy. Lily sat up straighter and turned towards the entrants. Ginny and Hermione walked up to them and gave the both of them hugs, asking if they were feeling alright.

"Are you lot back from Malfoy Manor?" asked Rose, who had woken up early enough to be informed by Hermione that James and Albus had gone to the Manor with Harry and George.

Harry gave a nod in response.

"And?" Lily asked hopefully, craning her neck to see if they had brought back Scorpius.

"They left," said Harry. "There was no one."

Lily's heart dropped in her chest, but before anyone could say anything else, Mcgonagall marched into the hospital wing to inform them that Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was officially being closed down.

 **The End**

 _ **A/N: Hi all! Apologies for the late update, but writer's block sucks. So anyway, this is the last chapter, but don't kill me because there is going to be an epilogue. Meanwhile, don't forget to keep giving your wonderful reviews because that's what keeps me writing. I hope you guys enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. I'm not a pro at fanfiction and since this was my first attempt, I hope you forgive me for any factual mistakes I might have made. Thank you all for the support, and please do keep the reviews coming! :)**_


	21. Chapter 21

Epilogue The bell chimed as she walked into the pub, pulling her coat tighter around her shoulders as she shuddered due to the cold. She breathed in the warm, Butterbeer infused air inside the Three Broomsticks. Hogwarts might have closed down, but Lily hadn't stopped visiting Hogsmeade every once in a month. She was a bit tired after her elongated study session with Hermione, who had been homeschooling her for the past three years. She was going to be done with her seventh year schooling that year, and the rigorous studying had drained her out. Christmas was nearing, and Lily had asked for a day off on a Saturday for a visit to Hogsmeade. The Three Broomsticks was still just as cramped and crowded as always when Lily found a seat at a table in a corner, beside the window and alongside the Christmas tree. She huffed out a breath as she pulled her scarf away from her neck and threw it onto the table as she leaned back on her seat.

She smiled at one or two regulars who were always there when Lily visited. She sat there after ordering her Butterbeer, and pulled out a quill and a piece of parchment to write another letter to Scorpius. For the past three years, after they left Hogwarts and went back to Godric's hollow in their home, Lily had been writing a letter to Scorpius every month, but never receiving a reply. Her letter always came back to her with the owl. Scorpius and the Malfoys hadn't been found after having searched for them for months and months. They had given up hope later. Lily had gotten herself busy in studying with aunt Hermione, and seldom went out of the house aside from meeting Rose and Uncle George. The only person who had given Lily hope over Scorpius was George.

He often visited and told her that one day, that owl would come bearing a reply from Scorpius instead of her own unopened letter back. And that was all that gave Lily the motivation to send more and more letters to Scorpius as time passed. Three years had gone by yet she hadn't a trace of Scorpius. Lily often wrote in her letters during Christmastime informing Scorpius that she would be present in Hogsmeade if he ever wanted to see her when in town. So far, she had been sitting alone at her usual table and looking out the window to see people walk by, but none of them were Scorpius. Lily still hadn't lost hope, and as she recalled how she had penned another letter to Scorpius the previous day, she smiled recounting how Rose had gone to Romania with her brother Hugo to learn about dragons with their uncle Charlie. Hermione and Ron often visited, but most of the time they were at Godric's hollow with Harry and Ginny, where Hermione schooled Lily . It had been quite comforting for all of them to stay together after the battle. All of them were often worried as to the other's well being, and since James and Albus were now working at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, Harry and Ginny only saw them when George visited. Lily had written in the letter about how George had gotten Albus and James busy in the shop, preparing boxes and boxes of items that were to be sent out to those who had ordered, and as punishment for what they had done to the Malfoys, they were made to do most of the work as Muggles did. George had said that the moment Lily would be merciful and let them do the work as wizards, George allow them to do the same.

It had been over two years, and they were still working as Muggles, much to their dismay but Lily's delight. The punishment wasn't nearly as severe as it should have been, in Lily's opinion, owing to what they had done. She had forgiven them though, but she couldn't forgive herself for having Stunned Scorpius, and she apologised for it in every letter she wrote. This time, she was apologising again, hoping a reply would come. Lily sighed and took a sip of her Butterbeer, wondering whether or not this time the letter had reached him.

Taking another sip, Lily stared out to see the looming towers of Hogwarts that were no longer there. The destruction had been irreversible. She watched as the fog gathered and the temperature dropped, but when she took the last sip of her Butterbeer, she heard the chime of the bell, and her eyes found him at the door. Lily stared for longer than she was supposed to, blinking as she tried to comprehend whether it was whom she thought it was. He was ruffling his hair, letting the snowflakes fall as he walked in and the door shut behind him. He let out a breath, and then his eyes trailed around as though he was looking for someone until they landed on her.

Scorpius Malfoy looked more handsome than he should have, in Lily's opinion. She watched as he dusted the snow particles off of his shoulder clad in a coat as he looked straight into her eyes from the distance. His expression remained unchanged, and Lily had to hold her mug of Butterbeer tightly so as not to let it fall. Scorpius took measured steps towards her, and Lily's heart raced as she watched his predatory stance move in her direction until he reached her.

He took a seat across from her wordlessly as Lily stared at him unmoving. He let out a breath and placed the envelope he was holding, on the table between them. Lily stared at it at a loss of words. She had just sent that letter, a day ago, and here he was sitting across from her, not uttering a word. Lily wondered whether it was a dream. But then he leant forward, placing both his hands before them on the table, and Lily traced with her eyes, all of those intricate features of his face that she had so terribly missed.

Unknowingly, a smile grazed her lips as she looked at him, but Scorpius was looking down at his hands, unmindful of her gaze. And Lily wondered whether she'd still feel that tingling sensation if he were to touch her. She didn't have to wonder much longer because the moment she opened her mouth to say something, his fingers were entwined with those of hers.

"I thought I'd find you here," he said.

And it was all that took for Lily to fall hopelessly in love with those grey orbs once again.

Hi all! So this is the last and final chapter of this story, and there will be no more updates. I know I've left it abruptly and haven't explained as to where Scorpius had been all this while, but I just wanted to leave it at that point, and writing more just didn't make much sense. What happens after the epilogue is open for interpretation. So please don't hate me for leaving it there. I've loved the reviews you guys have given to me, and to each and every reader who wrote a review, a big, heartfelt thank you. I love you guys. Hope you've enjoyed this fanfic just as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thanks for all the love! And Happy Reading :) 


End file.
